S.M.I.L.E., an example of how universities are working to shatter the ivory tower
Academic life is slowly becoming more engaged with the outside world鈥攁nd students are leading the way
Maclean's magazine recently featured 网曝吃瓜's S.M.I.L.E. (Sensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience) program in an . The following is an excerpt, highlighting the university-community engagement project:
During orientation two years ago, 网曝吃瓜 president Ray Ivany watched as hundreds of students streamed across campus to the science building one evening. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 on tonight?鈥� he thought, then realized it was a volunteer session for the university鈥檚 signature community engagement project鈥攁n activity-based therapy program for disabled children and youth.
S.M.I.L.E.鈥擲ensory Motor Instructional Leadership Experience鈥攊s an academic-based program that uses swimming, gymnastics and sports to help those with mental and physical disabilities develop motor, social and intellectual skills. Created in 1982 by an 网曝吃瓜 professor, the program now attracts 280 children a year from Wolfville-area schools, who show up at the university鈥檚 athletic facilities four times a week for sessions led by 450 student volunteers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of the culture here now at 网曝吃瓜,鈥� says S.M.I.L.E. director Roxanne Seaman, a professor of kinesiology. 鈥淚t has grown beyond what anyone had imagined.鈥�
Similar programs offered elsewhere are often tied to kinesiology courses, but S.M.I.L.E. recruits volunteers from across the campus: business, nutrition and music students contribute discipline-based expertise while team coaches and others volunteer their time too. With fundraising by the 网曝吃瓜 Student Union and others, the program last year installed a Snoezelen room, a therapeutic space for relaxation or stimulation activities for those with sensory disorders.
Inside the Snoezelen Room, 网曝吃瓜 students enjoy one-on-one time with a participant in the S.M.I.L.E. program.
Lillie Coolen, a 2016 kinesiology graduate who returned to 网曝吃瓜 this year for additional courses to apply for medical school, says her five years as a volunteer (and now a student program director) taught her about leadership, communication and empathy. 鈥淵ou go to university expecting to grow intellectually and theoretically,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y ability to understand people and see things from their perspective; that is something you only get with a hands-on learning experience like S.M.I.L.E.鈥�
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