Southern Miss Gulf Coast to Host Therapeutic Recreation Conference
Mon, 10/03/2011 - 03:00pm | By: Ryan Kelly
The University of Southern Mississippi is known for its leadership in the area of therapeutic recreation.
This leadership will once again be prominent when the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) Board of Directors presents educational sessions at a conference set for Oct. 20 at the Southern Miss Gulf Park campus in Long Beach, Miss.
The conference will run from 9:15 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. at the Fleming Education Center and is open to anyone interested. Cost for the conference is $10 for the workshop fee (which includes lunch), and an additional $10 for the available continuing education units.
The conference, titled “Coastal Horizons: Networking with the NCTRC,” is a chance for therapeutic recreation professionals and students to meet the board of directors of the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification and to obtain quality educational updates for up to .5 CEUs (continuing education units).
The workshop will include presentations from NCTRC Executive Director Bob Riley; NCTRC Chair Teresa Beck and NCTRC board members Patricia Thomas, Vincent Bonadies, and Shay Dawson. Subject matter will range from therapeutic recreation specialtycertification updates to conflict resolution intervention for the recreation therapy setting.
Dr. Mary Ann Aquadro, instructor of therapeutic recreation at Southern Miss, describes the workshop as, “an incredible opportunity for therapeutic recreation studentsto attend educational sessions presented by national leaders in the profession and, as they prepare for their internship search and employment after graduation, to network with therapeutic recreation practitioners from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Florida . This is a unique opportunity and the students are very excited and appreciative.”
Southern Miss served as the host of the American TherapeuticRecreation Association's (ATRA) national conference in Biloxi in 2010, and is a co-sponsor of this year's NCTRC workshop with The University of South Alabama and Southern University at Baton Rouge.
For more information or to register for the conference, contact Dr. Mary Ann Aquadro at 601.266.5207 or mary.aquadroFREEMississippi.