Rebekah Griffith,
University of Colorado
(nomination letter written by Nancey A. Bookstein, PT,
EdD)
Rebekah joined the APTA as a student member within a few weeks
of matriculating into the program. As she grew professionally,
she joined several of the Sections and presently is a student
member in the Sections on Neurology, Orthopaedics, and Health
Policy and Administration. She is a Federal PT PAC Student Star
as well as a member of the Spinal Cord Injury Special Interest
Group. She is a participant in the national APTA mentorship
program. On the state level, Rebekah is the Governmental Affairs
Officer of the Colorado Student Special Interest Group. Besides
being active in the Governmental Affairs Committee, she is on
the Fundraising Committee, a member of the PT PAC, a member of
the RFP Task Force, and a consistent and reliable volunteer for
Chapter conferences.
Another of Rebekah’s strengths lies in her leadership abilities which
have been well utilized during her tenure at the University of
Colorado. During her first year as a DPT student, she was
elected to be a class Senator, representing physical therapy
students in the interdisciplinary Student Senate on the Health
Sciences Center campus. In her second year, she was elected as
Student Senate President and represented all of the students of
the Health Sciences Center campus to the administration of the
University and the State. While in this role as Senate
President, Rebekah established the position of student Vice
President for Diversity, lobbied at the state level for passage
of increased campus funding, and established a student-run
interdisciplinary lectureship program. Later that year she
became the Chair of the Intercampus Student Forum and Liaison to
the President of the University of Colorado, Hank Brown. In this
position Rebekah represented all 50,000 students of the
University, acting as the single student liaison to President
Brown. Rebekah regularly presented to the Board of Regents and
lobbied nationally for student issues. She also received funding
for, and hosted, a student leadership summit. This event
ultimately led to the creation of the group called the
Associated Students of Colorado.
This is a young woman with exceptional political savvy and a clear
record of accomplishments in the political, educational, and
health arenas. When she attends the APTA Legislative breakfast
at the state capitol she knows who to talk to and what to say.
Legislators, Regents, and the University of Colorado President
recognize her name, her face, and know her to be an important,
reliable representative of thousands of students. This year she
was selected to participate on the University of Colorado
Presidential Search Committee to name President Hank Brown’s
replacement, and she has managed to attend all meetings and have
her voice heard while finishing her fulltime clinical
internship.
Her
expectations for herself include being a collaborator, a mentor,
and an agent for change within her profession. Given her
accomplishments as a physical therapy student, I can only
imagine how far her knowledge, skills, and attitude will take
her. She is a very worthy candidate for the ACE Award. Dr. Polly Cerasoli would be very proud of her accomplishments and very
excited about her potential.
As her faculty advisor, I am joined unanimously by the
University of Colorado PT Program faculty in nominating Rebekah
Griffith for the Colorado Chapter APTA ACE Award.
Her selection would demonstrate recognition of her
accomplishments to date and would provide an excellent role
model for all students to follow.
Katie Bailey,
SPTA, Pueblo
Community College
(nomination letter written by Mary Chavez, PTA,
PTA Program Chair, PCC)
This
letter is being written in support of the nomination of Katie
Bailey for the Student PTA ACE award from Colorado APTA.
Ms. Bailey has been a strong, active member within the
PTA program at PCC from the beginning.
In her first year in the program she was elected
Treasurer of the PTA club, and has been very efficient in
handling the responsibilities of that position. She has actively
participated in all club activities such as wheelchair donations
to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, clothing and toy Christmas
gift drive for the Posada homeless shelter, Thanksgiving baskets
that were donated to needy Pueblo Community College students and
collecting items for the APTA PT-PAC silent auction fundraiser.
She has also assisted with several campus-wide Student
Senate activities, providing information about the physical
therapy field and physical therapist assistants.
Ms.
Bailey has been strong academically throughout her education in
the PTA program, maintaining a 3.78 GPA. She is recognized for
her ability to prioritize, remain committed and focused, and
retain and apply knowledge in many situations. She has been an
active learner who has shown a strong motivation to learn,
making sure she understands the concepts of the material being
presented. She
is dependable, flexible and a good team player. Comments from classmate peer reviews state that she is
very respectful, eager to learn, professional in giving and
receiving feedback from classmates and instructors.
Ms. Bailey performed very well in her first
four-week clinical
experience with her clinical instructor stating that she had a
strong willingness to learn, was always ready and willing to
treat patients and that she truly cares about the residents in
the nursing home setting. Her clinical instructor has included a
letter of her own stating Katie’s
qualities that make her an outstanding candidate for this award.
Ms. Bailey is currently just two weeks into her second
internship but is doing well.
Ms.
Bailey is a deserving candidate for this award. Her motivation
and commitment will be contributing factors as a physical
therapist assistant and to the profession of physical therapy.
She will continue to be an advocate for her clients and the
profession of physical therapy. I strongly encourage you to recognize her multifaceted
strengths and award her with this recognition. Thank you for the
opportunity to submit this letter of support for her nomination.
Therefore without reservation I nominate Ms. Katie Bailey
for the Student PTA ACE award. (Shown
in photo above are Colorado Chapter President Greg McCall, Katie
Bailey, and Mary Chavez, Pueblo Community College PTA program
chair.)
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