Imagine!’s Internship Program Continues to Thrive

Oct-27-2020

Employees

The fall semester is well under way, and Imagine! is pleased to introduce Alfredo De la Cruz as our Therapeutic Recreation (TR) intern in Community Services. Alfredo’s internship is one of the last steps to fulfilling his Recreation Administration degree at Texas State University.

Alfredo grew up in Texas and he traveled up to Colorado to experience Imagine!’s unique community-based therapeutic recreation program. “Imagine! offers an experience vastly different than other agencies, because our programs are primarily community-based,” said Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) Caley O’Brien. Imagine!’s TR internship program draws students from all over the nation.

Community-based activities are significant because they allow for more opportunities to develop independence, social skills, and motor skills. The activities vary greatly day to day depending on the venue, providing a variety of skillsets to practice and environments to experience. In clinical and on site programs, activities are limited. Granted, everyone’s options are limited right now due to social distancing and COVID-19 safety measures.

This has been the main challenge for Alfredo so far. “It has been difficult to build rapport and encourage engagement with participants via Zoom,” said Alfredo. Given the challenge, Alfredo has found ways to adapt techniques and strategies to virtual learning. For example, Alfredo composed and sang a song to the kids in the After School Program about professionalism. “Things like this can make learning fun and not a chore.”

Alfredo’s internship responsibilities include activity planning and implementation, documentation and goal tracking, gaining hands on experience with participants in the field, supporting the onboarding process for new participants, communicating with parents/providers, and completing a final project designed to improve Imagine! services. Alfredo’s final project will involve creating an employment skills assessment tool for those we serve.

“One of the main reasons I am interested in becoming a CTRS is so that I can help people be happy and comfortable with themselves,” said Alfredo. “I love it when I can make someone laugh or feel good about themselves.”

Interns make a significant impact on our program because they bring in new ideas for activities, bring their studies of TR to each lesson plan, and model TR tactics to current DSPs. “It feels like I’m part of something bigger than myself,” said Alfredo. “Thanks to this internship, my passion for Therapeutic Recreation has increased drastically and I have never been more confident about my career choice.”

Best of luck to Alfredo on his journey of Therapeutic Recreation as a career, and we thank him for choosing Imagine!.

 

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