Volunteer Spotlight- Brooke from NCC

Volunteer Spotlight: Brooke, intern from NCC 

Brooke could have chosen from multiple outpatient clinical rotations, but she chose GiGi’s Playhouse Fox Valley because she really wanted to work with individuals with Down syndrome.  “I love that there are a bunch of different programs for the participants to chose from, and that they are all therapeutic and educational in nature!”  Brooke leads Busy Hands, Bigger Plans- a fine & gross motor class that primarily focuses on handwriting, but we love to have fun too. “My favorite is to see how the participants improve from the beginning to the end of a session, and how the participants interact with each other.”  In our classes we practice the “I Do, We Do, You Do” to ensure that every participant can be successful.  We also encourage each other and celebrate Best of All moments- like cheering each other on when we find the correct match in Seek and Find, and pinching the bubbles with tweezers.  “We hear, ‘Good job, way to go, hooray and smiles when participants succeed, not pouts that they did not find the match or pop the bubble, but instead were happy for their friends.”