A Letter from our Occupational Therapist Students

As the year 2020 is slowly approaching, our amazing UIC Occupational Therapist Student Program Leaders are getting ready to make the transition out of their current program leading rolls to make room for our brand new group of UIC Occupational Therapist Students. Paulina and Amanda took some time to reflect on this past year and wanted to share some of their GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago program highlights!

“The year began with acting and improve activities chosen by the teen participants. We had so much fun watching them create and act out various scenes, including both drama and comedy components. It was great to watch them grow out of their comfort zones and become more confident acting on stage and interacting with their peers.

Part of the Teen Tastic program is to empower teens and increase confidence in social participation and communication. Teen Tastic leaders worked to create a small unit with themes focusing on consent, body awareness, and autonomy. Through a “Consent Bingo” activity, participants had to complete bingo cards which included having to ask a peer for something, waiting for a response, and then respecting that response. Examples included asking a friend for a hug, asking a friend to strike a pose with you, finding a friend wearing glasses and asking them to take a photo with you, and more! The participants were eager to win bingo and worked hard to communicate with their peers. Group leaders noticed how focused and involved the teens were during this activity and decided to do it again the following week with new prompts. We watched the teens overcome any nervous or shy feelings and opened up to the idea of asking questions to their peers. We loved seeing how some of the teens worked together in pairs and communicated with one another about their goals to win bingo.

After almost an entire year leading Teen Tastic and Get Fit, we have seen our teens grow immensely! Although we will not be in our program lead rolls, we can’t help but to come back to GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago and volunteer in any way we can. We will truly miss each and every one of our teens and especially our Thursday night dance parties!” – Paulina Pei & Amanda Pineda

Thank you Paulina and Amanda for sharing your program highlights and volunteering your time to spread the message of love at acceptance for all at GiGi’s Playhouse Chicago. Our Playhouse would not be what is it today without amazing volunteers like you!