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Over the first weekend in August, some of the 1999 alumni got together for a mini-reunion. Brad Myers was happy to share the picture of the group with us! 
Left to Right: Nash and Kelly (Stone) Dreyer with Ella and Will, Brad and Kellie Myers, Wally and Leah (Timm) Hansen with Parker, James and Monica McGuire with Conner, and Amy and Brad Flowers with Mary Grace. Not pictured: Will Ross |
At the AOTA Conference, we had a reception for all ECU pirates that attended the conference! The event was Saturday night at the Hilton. The refreshments were sponsored by alumni Brad Myers of Carolina Therapy Services and James Gaynor of OT Plus, Inc. We thank them very much. It was a wonderful time of networking and renewing friends! Enjoy the pictures! |
 Welcome to our alumni event!
 Tony Bright, 1974 and his wife Judy
 Eric Miller, 2002 and his wife
 Rucha Bhatt, 2001
 Dawn McNamara Massa, 1991 and her husband
 Sharla Keeton, 1997 and Julie Kendell, 1997
 Crystal Carter, 2003 |
 Brad Myers, 1999
 Christina Shaffer, 1994
 Tracy Rogers, 1988 and Sharon Hollis, 1989
 Katrina and Robert Larrison, 1990
 Debra Dunn, 1973
 Dawn Richardson, 1983
 Christine May Cridland, 1992 |
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 Ashley Ludman
Class 1995
Seaside Yoga Ashley began her career in occupational therapy in skilled nursing facilities before returning to the Post-Professional Master's Program in 1997. She worked in all areas of rehab (including acute care, pediatrics, Neonatal ICU, inpatient and outpatient rehab, and hand therapy) at New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Wanting to work in the area of preventative wellness, she then began her own wellness programs. At the same time, Ashley began practicing and teaching yoga. This alone became her passion when she began to see the therapeutic benefits of yoga in herself and her clients. In June of 2002, she opened her own Yoga studio, Seaside Yoga, working with private clients, classes, and teach teachers. She finally found her niche! Ashley's graduate education at ECU in 1997 and 98 was invaluable to her in undertaking such an enormous task of opening a small business. She is often asked if she is still an Occupational Therapist. Ashley says “I tell them that I use my theory and clinical reasoning skills on a daily basis. I still use principles learned in developing programming while using Yoga, meditation and writing as my modalities as a therapist.” Ashley says she now knows what her teachers meant all those years ago when they taught us to think outside the box of traditional Occupational Therapy. “They said that this would be the wave of the future and that we could not rely on insurance reimbursement for job security. I was listening that day. I wasn't sure that I fully believed them at that time. They were right. I'm glad they were.” | | | | |
 Erin Broadhurst, OTR/L
Class of 2000 Erin is currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada and works as a therapist in the Clark County School District. She has been a traveler occupational therapist since graduation and has worked in a variety of settings including: acute, inpatient, psych, skilled nursing, rehab, and school systems. She enjoys traveling all over the country and seeing so many of the amazing sites. She loves the outdoors and spends her free time canyoneering, hiking, climbing, and continuing to travel. | | | | |
 Tim Holmes, OTR.L
Class of 1988
Senior Occupational Therapist
UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC After graduation Tim worked at John Umstead Hospital and then moved to become a rehab therapist at UNC Hospital where he still works. Influenced by service in the North Carolina OT Association, Tim currently serves as Chair of AOTA's Physical Disabilities Special Interest Section and is running for Chair of the SIS Steering Committee this year. Tim received the Outstanding Practice Award in Education from the North Carolina Occupational Therapy Association in September, 2003. Tim states that he "is definitely encouraged and excited about the possibilities that exist for OT practitioners, but that for us to remain a credible profession we need continued research to support the basis for our intervention." Eventually Tim hopes to complete a doctorate degree in order to teach and/or do research. Tim is an avid, competitive weight lifter, dog owner, and a Zen Buddhist practitioner. | | | | |
 Pam Klinger, OTR/L
Class of 1987
Owner and CEO of Therapeutic Life Center, Inc. Greenville, NC Ten years after graduating, Pam opened a private practice with a physical therapist colleague and in 2001 she started an occupational therapy practice called Therapeutic Life Center, better known as TLC. TLC currently employs between 12-15 occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants as independent contractors. Additionally a physical therapist and a speech and audiology therapist work for TLC on a contract basis. TLC provides services to both adults and children. | |
Robert and Katrina Larrison are both graduates from the class of 1990. They met and began dating while in OT school and got married soon after. They now live in Charlotte, North Carolina with their 8-year old son and 7-year old daughter. After graduation, Katrina worked for 5 years before deciding to become a full-time mom, and now enjoys being there every day for her kids, coaching two soccer teams, attending PTA meetings and assisting with teaching a class at the kids' school. She maintains her license to practice and occasionally does PRN work in various local settings. Robert has continued to advance his career over the years and has obtained his MBA and currently works as an administrator for the Carolina Health Care System and is Vice President of the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation. He has also worked as an administrator for a nursing home, taught classes at the University of Tennessee, and he is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). He intends to continue pursuing his career in healthcare in the years to come, looking forward to any new opportunities that may arise. Both initially came to ECU because it was the only state college at the time with an undergraduate OT program, and the most significant memory they have is the camaraderie that developed between the 19 students in their class, and the fact that they met each other while they were there. 
Eric Miller
Eric graduated in 2002. He is an OTR/L for the Person County School System. He and his wife live in Rougemont, NC. He is particularly interested in pediatrics and does some private OT contract work as well. He really enjoys the variety of his caseload. He sees children from pre-K through middle school and sees a wide variety of diagnoses. His special hobbies include: eating NC BBQ and traveling. This past summer, he and his wife went on a two and a half week road trip to Yellowstone. They camped most of the trip and saw some amazing scenery. Eric’s picture is from their vacation to Yellowstone.
Melanie Schoendorf, graduate of the class of 2002, is currently living in the beautiful weather of Florida where she is working full time at Florida Hospital Celebration in the outpatient pediatric area. She has also become a registered therapist in hippotherapy (with horses) and is hoping to soon get into an NDT certification course in pediatrics. Before taking her full-time job at Celebration, Melanie tried out the school system setting and was also doing home health pediatrics and working in acute care at the hospital on the weekends, but is now much happier to have one job to focus on and enjoy. Melanie is currently living with her sister who is getting married this year, and she has been dating a family medicine physician in Celebration for the past year and a half.
Jose Rafols is a graduate of the class of 1989 and is currently residing in Miami, FL, and working at South Miami Hospital. He is also currently working to finish his doctoral degree from Creighton University's Distance Pathway OTD program with an expected graduation date of this coming May, 2005. He is conducting his dissertation research in the areas of Telehealth and Telemedicine.
Nicole Whitaker Galletta graduated with the millennium class of 2000 and spent the first four years of practice as the Lead Occupational Therapist at a private school for kids ages 4-21 with moderate to severe disabilities. She is currently working in early intervention doing evaluations and treatment with kids 0-3 with their families, and is also working on her Masters Degree in Assistive Technology at George Mason University in Virginia, expecting to graduate this summer. She is married, spends lots of time renovating her 1940's house about 7 miles outside of D.C., and she has 2 cats and a lab puppy named Cooper.
Ron Sheppard graduated with the class of 1989 and received his Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from the University of St. Augustine in 2006. He is Director of Occupational Therapy for the 100+ providers of Holston Medical Group in Virginia and teaching at Milligan College in the master’s degree occupational therapy program. He is married for 18 years and has 2 teenaged sons.
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 LeeAnn Eagle Brown received her undergraduate degree with the class of 1999 and decided to continue to pursue her post-professional education while practicing OT in pediatric settings with sensory integration interests. She obtained her post-professional Masters degree in OT with the graduating class of 2004 and is now living in Wilmington, NC with her husband, Jack. LeeAnn did an outstanding job on her thesis and will be presenting it at the AOTF Graduate Poster Session at the American Occupational Therapy Association Conference in Long Beach, CA this May 2005. Her study was a single case of a child with hemiparsis. She used constraint induced movement therapy for 21 days and found it made a significant difference in the child's functional performance. LeeAnn will be submitting the paper for publication this spring. | |
Angela Schrum Stone
Currently, Angie is living in Hickory, NC and is working as a clinical director and OTR/L of a pediatric outpatient clinic. She is certified in the Sensory Integration Praxis Test and works mostly with children with sensory processing disorder and autism. She is also an Infant and Toddler Specialist. She enjoys working with children’s families and seeing their joy when their child demonstrates a new skill. She is married and enjoys providing respite care to a young girl on the weekends. She also volunteers with the Walkin Roll Organization, an organization that adapts sports for children and adults with disabilities.
Angela Smith Zambardino graduated with the class of 1998 and is currently working as an Occupational Therapist at Pitt County Memorial Hospital where she met her husband, James Zambardino, who works as a Physical Therapist at PCMH. They were married this past November of 2004.
Helen Gardner Lytle graduated with the class of 2002 and is currently employed with Ballard Therapy Services as an Occupational Therapist at Three Rivers Health and Rehabilitation Center in Windsor, North Carolina. She was married October 9 th , 2004 to Robert Lytle in Jamesville, NC.
Julianne Kennedy graduated with the class of 2002 and began her career working in a nursing home. Recently she has switched to employment with Therapeutic Life Center in Greenville, North Carolina to contract with a school system, and she is excited about this after having felt burned out by the nursing home job. She was married this past December.
Nathan Black is a recent graduate of the class of 2003 and is currently working at a 29 bed acute care rehabilitation center in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, and is enjoying living in his new house located a mile from the beach in Surfside Beach. He says “Life is grand, and I am having a blast as usual.”
Kara Wilt Compton graduated with the class of 1999 and spent her first years as an OT working in an outpatient rehabilitation facility. However, she felt limited in that position in terms of what she could accomplish in the “whole picture” of caring for her patients, so she made the decision to return to school for a Masters degree to be a physician assistant, which she will graduate from this coming August. She is currently living happily in Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, Major.
Miriam Merlin, class of 2001, is currently employed at National Healthcare in Laurens, South Carolina, where she is the O.T. Department Manager in a long-term care facility which also houses an inpatient rehabilitation unit and provides services to adult and pediatric outpatients, school systems, other LTC facilities, and home care.
Scharla Moss Keeton, graduate of the class of 1997, has worked as an occupational therapist for Granville County Schools in Oxford, North Carolina for the past five years. She also does additional contract OT work for a private pediatric agency. She enjoys providing OT services and working with children.
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 Nash and Kelly Dreyer, class of 1999, were high school sweethearts who dreamed of becoming occupational therapists together and when looking for the right college, selected ECU because of its program, location, size, friendly faculty, and charm. Their fondest memories include their fun, spontaneous, lively, driven, and at times challenging class, and the faculty who embraced them and met them every step of the way. After graduating, the two moved back to their home in Cincinnati, OH, where Nash has worked for the past 5 years in a rural community hospital treating patients all along the lifespan and recently became the primary OT in opening a new inpatient rehabilitation wing of the hospital. Kelly first worked in the local school systems and then at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center providing outpatient and inpatient pediatric services. After a year there, she began working with and assisting with the development of the new Neurological Diagnostic Apraxia Clinic which researches and provides diagnostic testing for children with the presumed diagnosis of Apraxia. In April of ‘04, Kelly made another leap and accepted a position in the Regional Center for Neonatal Intensive Care at the medical center. Nash and Kelly celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary this past November, and on February 1st, 2004, welcomed the addition of Ella Nash Dreyer to their happy family. | | |
 Brad Myers
Brad and his wife Kellie live in New Bern, NC. Brad graduated in 1999. He has a master’s degree in Health Education and Promotion from ECU as well. Currently, he is the Area Director for Carolina Therapy Services and a Health Instructor at Craven Community College. The most interesting aspects of his job include: program development, staffing, documentation compliance and operations. His specialty areas are: hospital settings, home health, and skilled nursing facilities. His hobbies include: spending time with his 1 year old boxer, working out and running, and going to the beach with his wife. | |
 Tracie Rogers
Tracie graduated in 1988. She lives in Greenville, NC and is currently the manager of inpatient occupational therapy services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. She is interested in administration and physical disabilities. What she enjoys most about her job is promoting the profession and fostering professional development of her staff. In addition to her OT degree, she earned a mini-MBA certificate through ECU. She is married and has 2 children. Tracie enjoys gardening and water sports! | |
Amy Goddard (1999) is living in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is the therapy coordinator at Easter Seals Children’s Rehabilitation Center. It is a 40-bed inpatient rehab for children age 3-21. She manages the department of 9 therapists and 5 therapy aides. Her specialty is pediatrics with a special interest in TBI. She is a certified kinesiotape practitioner and has attended many courses on SI and pediatric NDT, although she is not certified. She loves working with kids and enjoys some parts of managing a department, although managing people can be a challenge. She is married and has two boys. She enjoys riding horses and running. She has also worked/work different contract jobs. One job that she has found really interested is doing chart review or quality control for state funded clients. She has also "incorporated" herself to have her own business and thoughts of her own clinic, although she believes being a mom is more important.
Emily Reid (1999) lives in Greenville and works as a therapist for the Lenior County School System. She has worked in geriatrics for years and is enjoying her first year in pediatrics because she gets to watch human development. She is currently attending Creighton University and working towards her OTD. She is married and has a 2- month old son.
Jennifer Walden (2002) lives in Raleigh and works in outpatient with adults and pediatrics. She also does in home pediatric therapy. She is particularly interested in hands and upper extremity rehab as well as pediatrics and enjoys working with a huge variety of clients. In her free time she enjoys listening to music, hanging out with friends, and painting pottery.
Amy Tomlinson (2001) lives in Hamstead, North Carolina and works at Onslow Memorial Hospital in outpatient pediatrics. Her interest is mainly in pediatrics. She also has attending continuing education classes in NDT, pediatric myofascial release, and sensory integration. She has been married since 2005 and is expecting her first child in May of 2007.
Aleea Toledo (1998) lives in Wilmington and works for the CDSA evaluating children from birth to 3 years of age. Her main interest is in pediatrics and believes the most interesting aspect of her job are the children she works with, especially those with Autism. In her free time, she enjoys surfing, weight training, and running.
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Christina Shaffer (1994) lives in Jamestown, NC. She has been employed with Moses Cone Health Systems in Greensboro since graduation and is now a senior therapist and the clinical education coordinator. Her specialty areas include: stroke and spinal cord injury and she has an interest in geriatrics. Christina is NDT trained and is applying to graduate school at UNC Greensboro for a Master’s in gerontology. She is married and has a 20-year old son who is in the Air Force. In her free time she likes to play tennis, go camping, canoeing, and backpacking. She also likes to spend time with her cat and read books. |
Dawn (Englund) Maddox
Dawn graduated in 2003 and she now resides in Lynchburg, Va. She married her high school/college sweetheart, Jason Maddox. They have two dogs, Tess (Weimaraner) and Chester (Scottish Terrier). She continues to keep in touch with some of her classmates. She is employed with Centra Health, Inc. and she works within the Acute Care setting. She also works with Neuro and Ortho on various committees that focus on Neuro/Ortho patients. | |
Kristen (Wilson) Miller
Kristen graduated in 1994 and she now resides in Salisbury, North Carolina. She is married to Joseph Miller and they have a daughter, Brenna. Her greatest class memory was going to the NC OT conference in Asheville with her classmates. Her hobbies include scrap booking, reading and watching “cheesy” horror flicks. Kristen received her Advanced Master’s Degree in OT in 2002. She wants to perhaps take and pass the CHT exam in the future. She is currently working at Lexington Memorial Hospital in Lexington, NC. Kristen has stated that every day at Lexington Memorial is an adventure. Some of the jobs that she’s had in the future were: home health, nursing homes and hospital inpatient and outpatient. Her specialty areas include hand therapy and geriatrics. | |
Tamika (Smith) Tuitt
Tamika graduated in 2002 and now she resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is married to Darren Tuitt and they have two girls. She stated that her greatest accomplishment since graduating is the birth her children and becoming the director of rehab. She is currently working at Avante at Charlotte Nursing and Rehab Center, which has been her only job since graduating. Her specialty is geriatrics. One of her favorite moments was seeing a patient go from being completely dependent to completely independent. Her hobbies include spending time with her family and exercising. In the future she would possibly want another child and to further her education. | |
Sherita (Barnard) Blue
Sherita is a 2002 graduate. She is married to Phillip Blue and they have one child, Dominic. She lives in Laurinburg, NC. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is starting a family. She is currently working at Scotland Memorial Hospital as a Level II Therapist. Her specialty area is lymphedema certification. Her hobbies are scrap booking and working out. In the future, Sherita would like to be a director of an occupational therapy department.
Donna (Cobb) Greene
Donna graduated in 1990 and she now resides in Cary, NC. She is married to John and they have one son, Christopher who is six. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating was starting her own business, Kids R Us Therapy, Inc. Since graduation she has worked in different settings, including the hospital, private practice, schools, home health, independent contractor, and now owning her own company. What an accomplishment! Her most exciting “moment” was getting that first paycheck as an Independent Business Owner! Donna enjoys reading, decorating her home, boating and playing with her son. She would like to achieve “financial freedom.”
Cindy Sayce
Cindy graduated in 1986. She is married to Karl and they have two girls, Katie, age 2 and Sarah age 14. They live in Pinehurst, NC. She is currently the Director of Inpatient Rehab Therapy Program at FirstHealth of the Carolinas in the Sandhills of NC. Since her husband was in the military that gave Cindy the ability to work in many settings. She has worked in a day treatment program for CVA patients, school-based therapy for Department of Defense in Germany, brain injury day treatment program and acute care, outpatient and inpatient rehab. Cindy has stated that her specialty is administration but as a therapist she also enjoys neuro patients.
Edith (Smith) Hunt
Edith graduated in 1992 and she resides in Ayden, NC. She is married to Cal Hunt and they have three children, Brandon (13 years old), Ava (4 years old) , and Emery (1 year old). She is currently the Rehab Services Manager at Lenoir Memorial Hospital in Kinston, NC and she supervises all of the PT, OT, ST and RT services as well as the Interfacility Transportation department. She has worked in just about all the different clinical settings including SNF, school systems, home health, inpatient rehab, acute medical and even taught a few classes at PCC for the COTA program. She doesn’t get to do a lot of patient treatment now, but she loves working with patients with neurological diagnoses such as head injuries or CVA and she also enjoys shoulder rehab. Her hobbies are playing racquetball, going to the beach, camping and spending time with her husband and children. Her favorite class memories are the trip to Daytona Beach for spring break with several classmates during her senior year and working on the presentation for the pinning ceremony that “remembered” each of her classmates and professors. Her best work moments are usually the little ones, when a patient is able to do something for themselves the very first timer or when a discharged patient comes back to the facility to visit and tells her all the things they can now do because of the therapy that was provided.
Jeni Miller
Jeni graduated in 2001 and now she resides in Washington DC. She is not married yet, but she is engaged. Class memories include studying with her roommates, group outings, and gross anatomy. After graduation, she was moved to Australia for two and a half years and worked there as a rehab occupational therapist. Currently, she is working at Suburban Hospital in the in and outpatient facilities, but is planning on moving to the West Coast in the near future. She’s also worked in a school for children with learning disabilities, as a consultant working in injury management, workers compensation, completing medico-legal assessments and functional capacity assessments. Her favorite moments were traveling around Sydney. Her specialty areas are sensory integration with autistic children, hand therapy and ergonomics. Her hobbies are photography and surfing. She hopes in the future to open up her own practice and do more traveling around the world using her occupational therapy skills.
Kerri Schmedeke
Kerri graduated in 1997 and she is currently living in Summerville, SC. She is married to Kevin and they have three children, Katelyn, Daniel, and Megan. Her best class memories are gross anatomy class and labs. Having her children are her greatest accomplishments since graduating. She is currently a “stay at home mom”. She has worked in the hospital acute-care, in-patient, out-patient, hand therapy and home health. Her hobbies are outdoor activities and writing. She would like to work in pediatrics in the future.
Erin (Hunt) Gist
Erin graduated in 2003 and is currently living in Lumberton, NC. She is married to Bryan and they have one child, Makena. Her fondest class memory was leading a simulated group (5 stage group—apple theme) in Betsy Daniel’s class with the “elder population with dementia” and one of her classmates really took on the role and bit the apple as it was being passed around! Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is having Makena and loving her job. She is currently working at Hoke County Schools as Lead OT. She previously worked with a contract company at 2 SNFs. Her specialty area in pediatrics and she is attempting to get more CEUs on sensory based topics. She loves her job and says that the kids do the most adorable things. One memory in particular was a student with AU (consultative) and out of no where he says “Mrs. Erin, I love you” and continues on with whatever he is doing. It’s moments like those that touch Erin’s heart. While not at work she enjoys being with her five month old. |
 Elizabeth (Gushee) Camp Elizabeth graduated in 2004 and she now resides in Matthews, NC. She is married to Jay Camp. Her best class memory was her fieldwork in Guatemala. She is currently working at Touchstone Therapy, a private Peds clinic specializing in SI. She has also worked at PRN in inpatient at the hospital. Her specialty is sensory integration. Her hobbies are and always will be horses. In the future she wants to use hippo-therapy as a treatment tool for some of her clients. | |
 Kristin (Weisz) Largena Kristin graduated in 2002 and she resides in Hampton, VA. She married her high school sweetheart, Kevin. Her greatest class memory was winning the research award with Crystal Legg Helmkamp on Disability Awareness and presenting it at the research symposium. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is becoming senior occupational therapist at Dominion Pediatric Therapy, where she currently works in Newport News, Va. She has also recently taken on the position of Assistant Coordinator with more management responsibilities. In the past, Kristin has worked for southeastern Physical Therapy in adult group homes and day programs with adults with developmental disabilities. She specializes in pediatrics, particularly in feeding and sensory integration. Her favorite moments are when you make a difference and you see the look of pride and accomplishment in the kids’ faces. She loves all the cute stories from the kids and she feels so refreshing when after she’s had a “beat down” day, and one of the kids say something like “K is for Miss Kristin”. Her hobbies are playing pool at home and in a league with her husband. She also enjoys selling Beauticontrol products and providing Spa Escapes for people in their homes. She would like to achieve further management responsibilities as well as increasing in her specialization in pediatric practice. | |
 Sandy (Skellie) Burns Sandy graduated in 1982 and is living in Asheville, NC. She is married to Scott and they have six children and one deceased child. She remembers taking gross anatomy in the trailers on campus and getting to know everyone that first summer. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is being the role of wife and mother. This includes her home schooling her children and her faith in Christ carrying her through the sudden death of her oldest child in 2001. She is currently working for the preschool program in Henderson County as well as seeing children ages birth to four years old privately through a clinic. She has worked for various school systems and she also tried home health a couple of times. Her specialty area is pediatrics, but she loves working with the entire family and classroom/daycare teachers to help the children succeed. Her favorite moments while out in the job field are the times when an autistic child hugs her or greets her at the door with a brief smile or a parent tells her that this is a “first” with a child (something that was accomplished in therapy). In the future she would like to achieve having her entire house clean in the same day! | |
 Joanne (Stock) Seng Joanne graduated in 1984 and she is currently living in Morganton, NC. She is married to Harry and she has three step-children. What she remembers most from ECU is gross anatomy. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is receiving her Masters in occupational therapy from Boston University. She is currently working at J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center where she’s been working since graduation. Her specialty area is developmental disabilities. Her hobbies are weaving, knitting, and traveling. She hopes to do research in occupational therapy and developmental disabilities in the future. | |
Annie (Kampa) Blaubach Annie graduated in 2002 and she resides in Winterville. She is married to Chris and they have one child, Natalie. One class memory while attending ECU was the relief in “finally finishing her independent study.” Since graduating, she feels her greatest accomplishments have been starting her family and getting back into pediatrics. She is currently working at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in pediatric rehab. She has also worked at the Caswell Center, outpatient adults and kids at Comprehensive Rehab of Wilson, and ICU/Intermediate trauma/surgery/neurosurgery at PCMH. Her specialty areas include brain injury and orienting to the NICU. Her hobbies are reading, Bunco, scrap-booking, and spending time with her family. |
 Wendy (Roberson) Scarborough Wendy graduated in 1991 and she resides in Crozet, Va. She is married to Timmy and they have four children, Zachary, Savannah, Gabrielle and Eli. Her greatest accomplishment is managing a family and a career. She is currently working at RehabCare Group in St. Louis. She works in a home office as a compliance manager. In the past, she was a psychosocial occupational therapist at Western State Hospital in Staunton, Virginia and in long term care with NovaCare, which was bought out by Rehab Works. Her specialty areas are long-term care and psychiatry. Her hobbies are attending her children’s various activities, gardening, riding horses, and keeping involved in church and with her children’s schools. | |
 Crystal (Legg) Helmkamp Crystal graduated in 2002 and she currently lives in Gates County with her husband Karl and their dog, Maggie (who stills loves it when Crystal sings to her). They are expecting their first child in June; a little girl. Her hobbies include shopping, boating, going to the beach, playing tennis and softball, and being with her friends and family. Since graduation, she has been working in the school system of Suffolk and Franklin, Virginia. Her greatest memories from ECU are the friends that she made while in occupational therapy. She’s kept in touch with many of them, they’ve participated in each other’s weddings and they use each other for support as well as for resources. In the future she would like begin her own practice.
Essie Weathers
Essie graduated in 1997 and she now resides in Hickory, NC. She is married to Jim and they have two boys, Quinn and Reid. Her most memorable moment during the occupational therapy program was when she stabbed the pumpkin during psych group, playing the role of a passive-aggressive patient. She even got an award at the pinning ceremony for her performance. Her greatest accomplishment is becoming a mom and surviving parenthood thus far. After graduation, Essie worked as the main acute care occupational therapy at Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory for five years. Essie developed occupational therapy services in acute care, the neonatal intensive care unit, and expanded outpatient services when there were few occupational therapy services when she first started working there. She also had the privilege of helping start a follow-up clinic in her community for infant graduates of Special Care Nurseries and Neonatal Intensive Care Units. When Quinn was born, she began working part time for Children’s Neurotherapy Services. After the birth of her second son she took a 15 month hiatus to become a full time mom. Essie is currently working part-time with Aegis Therapies at a SNF. Her specialty is geriatrics. Her most memorable job experience is when she got to work with a teenager from Belarus who had been affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant blast in the Ukraine. Her hobbies are Creative Memories scrap booking. She just recently bought a sewing machine to add to her hobbies whenever she gets the time to learn the skills of sewing. Essie wants, in the future, to expand her skills for either management or as a consultant.
Elizabeth Edwards
Elizabeth graduated in 1975 and she resides in Greensboro, NC. Her most interesting class memory is passing out on the first day of gross anatomy due to the formaldehyde odor. One of her best accomplishments since graduating was spending twenty-eight days doing Outward Bound in Maine. She is current working at Moses Cone Health System and has worked in pediatrics, home health and rehabilitation. Now her specialty area is stroke rehab. Favorite moments on the job field have been when she traveled the back roads of South Carolina in the early 1980’s providing home health care to very poor people, but receiving so many blessings from them. Her hobbies are hiking, biking, camping, recycling, composting, and riding her bike to work. In the future she wants to open her own group home.
Heidi Hebert
Heidi is a graduate of 2006 and she lives in Hubert, North Carolina. She has been married to Benjamin for thirteen years and they have one child, Booke. She is working at JZ Mann Pediatric Therapy in Jacksonville. Her hobbies are gardening and reading. Amber (Parke) Chalker Amber is a graduate of 2006 and she resides in Reston, Vigirnia. She is married to Adam Chalker. Her best memories of ECU were the Wednesday night dinners at Wimbledon. Her current job is at Inova Fairfax Hospital where she is an acute-care therapist specializing in neuro trauma. Amber has worked there since November 2006. She has also worked PRN at a local hospital in Pinehurst, NC, both as an acute care therapist and a rehab therapist. Currently her population is between the ages of 16 and 36 and they have been involved in some traumatic event that has altered their level of function. She follows the patient throughout their stay in the hospital to their discharge. One of her most exciting moments while out in the job field was when one of her patients was stabbed in a gang-related altercation but was illegally in the country and his stab wound severed his spinal cord at the C5-6 level. Because of his alien status, no acute rehab facility would care for him. She and the physical therapist took him to the airport, through security and helped him board the airplane where he was discharged to Central America. Amber’s hobbies are pilates, cooking, traveling, and playing the piano. In the future, Amber would like to become a certified pet therapist and bring dogs into the acute care setting. | |
 Wanda Bennett The Department was very fortunate this past academic year to have one of its alumni teach OCCT 6500 Managing Occupational Therapy Services! Wanda Bennett, administrator of outpatient rehabilitation services at Pitt County Memorial Hospital taught the 3-credit course this fall. The graduate students were overwhelming positive about the course and proclaimed that Wanda did an outstanding job presenting real life management and leadership issues to them. Their recommendation is to retain Wanda as a permanent adjunct to the program! Wanda has been a employee of PCMH for many years and recently completed surveyor training and mentorship with the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). We are proud to say that Wanda is an ECU occupational therapy alumni, a solid supporter of our occupational therapy program, and now an adjunct instructor. | |
Elizabeth (Cameron) Frey Elizabeth graduated in 2006 and she resides in Fayetteville, NC. She is married to Christopher. Her most vivid class memory is attending the Thanksgiving party that was held during the first semester in the girls’ apartments. She is currently working with Genesis Rehab at Heritage Place in Fayetteville. Her hobbies are playing music, reading and camping. In the future she would like to become a Hand Therapist. Katherine (Shoffner) Oelberg Katherine graduated in 1976 and currently resides in Boone, NC. She is married to Bob and they have two children. Her fondest school memory is the support she received from everyone in her class and the many laughs that they shared. Her greatest accomplishment has being a single mother for twelve years raising two wonderful, successful children. She is currently working at CDSA of the Blue Ridge. Some of the types of jobs that she has had since graduation are: Geriatrics, School System, Acute Care, Adult Rehab, and Early Intervention. Her specialty areas are pediatrics and early intervention. It has been exciting, interesting, and delightful working in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with the people in this culture. Katherine’s hobbies are hiking, gardening, beading. and Scottish Country Dancing. In the future she would like to become an artist and do some overseas volunteer work. Patricia (Gulledge) McCollum Patricia graduated in 1998 and she now resides in Wadesboro, NC. She is married to Robin and they have three daughters, Katie, Mayci, and Courtney. Spending time with her friends is her favorite memory while attending ECU. Her greatest accomplishment has been becoming a mother. She is currently working at Heritage Hills Living Center. She has worked previously in home health for eight years and she worked one month at SNF. Her specialty area is Geriatrics. One of her favorite/exciting moments while on the job field was when she taught a paraplegic female to walk and another exciting moment was locking TKAFOs using hip movements. Her hobbies are fishing, nature watching and hunting. Something that she would like to achieve in the future is “retirement”! Bobbi Bartley Bobbie graduated in 1998 and she is living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She is married to Bill and they have two boys. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is caring for her son, Brucie. She is currently working at Chesapeake Public Schools and has been a pediatric occupational therapist. Her hobby is running. Tammy (Sutton) Malone Tammy graduated in 2000 and she lives in LaGrange, NC. She is married to Stokes and they have one daughter, Sutton Grace Malone. Her specialty area is Pediatrics (School System). Tammy enjoys going to the beach and the lake. Alli (Carstens) Hobbs Allie graduated in 2000 and she is currently living in Charlotte with her husband Ben. Since graduating, her greatest accomplishment has been running three full marathons and three half marathons. She is currently working at Cyzner Institute (school and outpatient pediatric facility) and has mainly worked in pediatric outpatient. Other experience includes the school systems, inpatient rehabilitation, nursing homes, LTAC, and adult outpatient. Her specialty areas are sensory integration therapy, and visual perception. She finds joy working everyday in seeing the children she works with learn new skills. Alli’s hobbies are running, mountain biking with her husband and hanging out with her three dogs and her former classmate Lisa who lives near her. In the future she wants to start raising a family.
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 Rachel (Jackson) Belanger Rachel graduated in 2006 and she lives in Tempe, AZ. She is married to Adam. Her favorite memories at ECU were all of the friends she made and getting together for dinners or watching the Bachelor. She is working for Student Therapy and Resource Services in the school system. She also works PRN at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital. Her hobbies are rowing, hiking, traveling, and spending time by her pool. | |
 Rebecca Schmidt Rebecca graduated in 2000 and she is currently living in San Diego, CA. She is married to Robert and they have two children, Zachary and Kathlynn. Her fondest memories are of getting on the elevator after gross anatomy and having everyone move away from you because of the smell. She is currently working in San Diego City Schools. She has also worked in a pediatric private practice, pediatric outpatient clinic, and the NC and FL school systems. Her favorite moment on the job has been teaching a child that had half of his brain removed (hemispherectomy) due to severe epilepsy, to write and then write in cursive with an appropriate grip and also tie his shoes! Rebecca is also a volunteer advocate for military families with children that have IEP’s or needing IEP’s. She helps families get the information they need. Her family is involved in ADA and JDRF activities and school advocacy/training has been her passion since her son was diagnosed with diabetes. She advocates for the rights of children with diabetes all the way to meeting with congressmen in Washington DC. In the future she would like to have a private practice focusing on visual perceptual and handwriting for the younger children as a supplemental to school based practice.
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Danae Shoopman Danae graduated in 1998 and she resides in Raleigh, NC. She is working at Carolina Inerapy Services.
 Angela (Volpe) Bernier
Angela graduated in 2000 and she currently lives in Centreville, Va. She is married to Matt. A major accomplishment has been the start of her own Tutoring Company with the website of http://www.hdctutoring.com. She is also currently working at Fairfax County Public Schools and at the Handwriting Detective Club. Her specialty areas are obviously pediatrics and handwriting. Hope Clayton (Beth Robison) Hope currently lives in Valdese, NC and she graduated in 1985. She is married to David and they have three children, Jake, Aaron and Ansel. A few of her greatest class memories were the Pinning ceremony and graduation. She also recalls the summer they took anatomy and drove four or five of them back and forth to the medical school in her convertible “karmann ghia” with the broken door and especially the day they all got their “box of bones” and stacked them in the back with two girls sitting on top—like a parade. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating is opening an outpatient pediatric center (Grace House). She is self employed in her own business called One Therapy. She contracts with Burke County Schools, sees children privately, supervises several COTAs seeing children. Since graduation she has also worked in Adult rehab, hands, and pediatrics. Her specialty areas are pediatrics and assistive technology. Her favorite moments while out in the job field are the times when she gets to see a child do something that they didn’t think they could do. Her hobbies are gardening, watching soccer and tennis. In the future she would like to get all three of her kids through college!
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Meredith Turlington Meredith lives in Raleigh, NC and she is a 2001 graduate. What she remembers most about attending ECU was “definitely the gross anatomy”. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating has been becoming SIPT certified. She is working at Allied Rehab in Wake Forest, NC in an outpatient clinic. They have contracts with CDSA, daycares and charter schools. She treats all types of kids with her specialty areas being sensory integration. Her favorite moments are times when she can see progress in the kids and when they smile and hug her. Her hobbies are scrap-booking, playing piano, painting pottery, hanging out with her friends and taking her dog for walks. In the future she would like to continue to learn more in the pediatric field.
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DJ Avery in the North Carolina mountains. |
DJ and classmates at the reception honoring Anne Dickerson at the AOTA conference. |
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Djamila Avery Djamila graduated in 2004 with the FIRST class of the new MSOT program. She resides in San Antonio, Texas where the margaritas flow feely and the men wear tight Levi’s & cowboy hats. Her best class memory was when she and some of her classmates drove to Washington, DC to attend the annual AOTA conference in 2003 and she was asked by some of her classmates to stand up and say a few words about Anne. It was the moments that followed that she would cherish most, since they were filled with laughter, smiles and hugs. Her greatest accomplishment since graduating was the decision to relocate to Texas (even though she had never been there before) and move from North Carolina. She has acclimated to the vibrant culture, the fabulous shopping districts, the vivacious night life though she doubts she’ll ever get used to the heat. She is currently an RN as well as an OT, and has continued to practice nursing. She is currently working as a nurse case manager for a managed care health insurance company in San Antonio and as a freelance nurse consultant for some long term care facilities. She deals with members of health insurance plans that have complex medical histories and require coordination of medical services both in the hospital setting and out in the community. Her favorite moments while out in the job field are the times when she meets her members face to face and see the children with cancer smiling and happy. Her hobbies are traveling, hiking, swimming, and nature walks with her dogs. In the future she wants to own her own business to create a corporate wellness program for small businesses to include disease management services for women with complex health issues. |
Kathy (Taffy) Menoher Matthews Kathy is a 1974 graduate although she started with the first class in 1971, but had to quit for personal reasons. She resides in Benson, NC with her husband, Larry, of 36 years. They have one daughter, Sarah and one grandchild with one on the way. She currently works with Easter Seals UCP NC as an Early Intervention therapist. Her specialties are autism and SPD. Kathy has also worked in the school system, home health agencies, nursing homes, two state institutions for the MR, and private contractors. For a few years she worked as a bookkeeper and a Certificate of Need Coordinator, but she found the error of her ways and returned to the OT profession in the early 80s. Kathy wants to live to retire!!! |
 Robin Tutor Robin is a graduate of the class of 1979 and she also received her master’s in public heath in 2007 from ECU. She lives in Clayton, NC and she has one son. Her best class memory was the first day of gross anatomy when one of her classmates, Paula Lechner, turned different shades of green. Since graduating, Robin has had the privilege to serve children and families. She is currently working at NC Agro-medicine Institute/Southern Coastal Agro-medicine Center at ECU. She has also worked in in/outpatient rehabilitation, acute care-hospital, early intervention, school system, private practice-developmental disabilities for children and adults, ICF/MR, program development and compliance, and health/disability services coordinator-migrant head. Hone of the most exciting moment while out in the job field was the time when she had to go through a large mud puddle (half way the side of the car) to visit a small house (shack) in the middle of a trash pile to see premature infants. The house did not have indoor plumbing, was heated by a tin heater with no barrier to the children, and was reported by the social worker to have snakes. Another time she was met at the door by another mother of premature twins who locked her in immediately because someone a couple of doors down had been stabbed and the assailant had not been captured. Robin hopes to be able to retire to the farm with her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren. But, before doing this, she hopes to have an opportunity to do international health. | |
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