On December 21, 2015 students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program made a Christmas dream come true for children at a local homeless shelter. After several months of their hard work (including completing many hours of manual labor and fundraising over $6500), they were ready to celebrate the completion of a new soccer field for the young residents at La Posada Home. Approximately 60 people attended the ribbon-cutting event, including students, donors, and La Posada Home residents, staff, and Board members.

DPT Class of 2016 student Kiersten Garrand led the project. She originally became involved with La Posada as part of service-learning requirements in the first year of the DPT Program, and maintained contact with her community site long after her service-learning hours were completed. Kiersten reported that when she arrived at the ribbon-cutting, "the kids were laying on the turf sprawled out and exhausted from playing soccer all morning. Once they saw us, a large group of kids attached themselves to my legs and another few were jumping on my husband yelling 'thank you' and 'gracias.' The excitement in their eyes was something I will never forget."

The DPT Program thanks everyone who helped to ensure that the children will have a safe place to play soccer for many years to come - including the DPT students, their family and friends, DPT faculty and staff, other UTEP donors, members of the Greater El Paso District of the Texas Physical Therapy Association, and SYNLawn of El Paso who provided and installed the artificial turf at below-cost with the students' assistance.

The CHS Winter Commencement included six Rehabilitation Counseling students: Valeria Baeza, Jopy Baker, Agustin Barajas, Jessica Gutierrez, Jered Holder, and Marcela Jimenez.

Mr.Jopy Baker graduated with a 4.0 GPA and was recognized for his Outstanding Academic Achievement at the ceremony. He completed his internship at PRIDE Industries. He was recently hired by ReadyOne Industries to work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.

Mr. Jered Holder received the Outstanding Graduate Student award and also recently received the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR) Region 7 Rehabilitation Counselor of the Year award for 2015. Following conferral of his degree, Mr. Holder will be promoted to Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor I at IDVR. He plans to pursue his PhD in Rehabilitation Counseling in the future.

Ms. Valeria Baeza has been hired by Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) in Plano. As the only bilingual counselor in the office), she provides services to the Spanish-speaking caseload. Her future plans include pursuing a PhD in Behavioral Science at the University of North Texas (UNT) while continuing to work as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor to further expand her experience in the Rehabilitation Sciences.

Mr. Agustin Barajas received the Personal Identity Excellence award from the Student Rehabilitation Counseling Association (SRCA). Agustin's immediate plans are to relocate to Austin to work as an LPC-Intern and obtain licensure within 2 years.

Ms. Jessica Gutierrez is currently employed by DARS in El Paso as a Consumer Case Coordinator. Mrs. Marcela Jimenez is employed by Emergence Health Network

Congratulations to all the Rehabilitation Counseling graduates! They are well on their way to improving the lives of individuals with disabilities - one client at a time...

Graduates pictured from left to right (Marcela Jimenez, Agustin Barajas, Jessica Gutierrez, Valeria Baeza, and Jopy Baker)

The Master of Occupational Therapy Program would like to welcome Dahlia Castillo, MS, OTR as our newest Clinical Assistant Professor. Ms. Castillo most recently held an appointment as the program director of an Occupational Therapy Assistant program. Prior to that she served as the fieldwork coordinator in the MOT program at UTEP from 2010-2012.

Dahlia received her Bachelor's degree in OT from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 1991 and a Master of Science in Health Education from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2002. She is currently a clinical doctoral student at Mt. Mary University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with an anticipated graduation of May 2016. Her doctoral research topic is entitled Fostering Client-Centeredness through Therapeutic Use of Self. She is currently on the Roster of Accreditation Evaluators for the Accreditation Council of Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) where she served on the council from 2006-2012.

Dahlia has been an occupational therapist for the last 25 years. During her career she has worked with individuals across the lifespan including premature infants with feeding difficulties, school children with developmental and academic delays, adolescents with learning differences, young adults with orthopedic and neurological diagnoses and injuries, military veterans with various mental health, orthopedic and neurological issues, and older adults with a variety of age-related, orthopedic, and/or neurological conditions. The settings where she has been employed include acute care hospitals, rehabilitation centers, public and private schools, and the VA. As an Hispanic leader in the occupational therapy profession, Dahlia is committed to assist students overcome barriers that could limit their success in the educational program.

Since 2007, she has offered pro-bono occupational therapy services in an underserved clinic in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. During one week intervals two to three times per year, Dahlia, together with colleagues and students, provide occupational therapy services in an environment with very limited resources. Over the past decade, she has engaged 50 therapists and 25 students to offer these services. She was instrumental in establishing an activity of daily living environment for evaluation and practice.

Dahlia is completely bilingual and bicultural; she has presented on various topics related to occupational therapy to clients and health professionals in Juarez as well as in the US. In addition, she has worked with a higher education institution in Juarez in an effort to introduce occupational therapy to interested students.

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health has awarded a grant to an assistant professor in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program. Dr. Jennifer Sánchez was 1 of 5 recipients of the Mental Health Recovery-Oriented Research grant. She received a $66,000 award for her project entitled, "Development and Validation of a Self-Determined Participation in Community Life Measure for People with Serious Mental Illness: A Consumer Perspective."

The study will span 2 years and focuses on the development of a culturally- and linguistically-sensitive instrument to measure participation in life roles of persons with severe mental illness. Consumers will participate in a number of activities to inform the development of this measurement tool.

This is the third Hogg Foundation grant awarded to a faculty member in the Master of Rehabilitation Counseling program. Congratulations to Dr. Sanchez, as well as Dr. Erin Barnes, a previous awardee! .