Second year students in the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program at Kent State East Liverpool participated in the annual American Occupational Therapy Assistant Hill Day in Washington, D.C., taking messages straight to the doorsteps of their state representatives.
For weeks preceding the conference, students in the Kent East Liverpool OTA program called to schedule appointments with individual senators and representatives from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Once in Washington, D.C., the students met in the office of Ohio Senator Rob Portman; and with Ohio Representatives Bob Gibbs, Bill Johnson and Tim Ryan; as well as with West Virginia Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito; and West Virginia Representative David McKinley.
The students, along with faculty and staff, discussed the importance of occupational therapy and rehabilitation services and ensuring that people have full access to these services.
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Photo: Kent State East Liverpool students and faculty from the occupational therapy assistant program attended Hill Day in Washington, D.C. They included (front, from left) Alycia Melia, Gabriella Palmeri, Krista Messing, Selina Schell, Kristine Bevan and Kathy Swoboda, program director; and (back, from left) Christian Cavalier, Alexis Roush, Kasey Wright, Ashley Neff and Michael Camilletti.