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On any given week, Recreational Therapy students at ���ϲ����� might be running wheelchair basketball with kids, leading “chair exercise bingo” with older adults or walking into a long-term care community with a carefully crafted treatment plan in hand. That steady, hands-on work just earned national recognition.

���ϲ�����’s Recreational Therapy program has received the 2025 Excellence in Education Award from the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA), a national honor recognizing programs that set the standard for the field.

In just two years, the program has transformed from a concentration in parks, recreation and tourism to a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences major in Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Ellmer College of Health Sciences at ���ϲ�����. Under the leadership of Betsy Kennedy, Ed.M., CTRS, and Shelly Beaver, M.S., CTRS, the curriculum has expanded from six to 11 recreational therapy-specific courses, alongside classes in disability culture, health sciences, psychology and human services. As Beaver explains, “It challenges their biases. They’ll say, ‘I never realized the social stigma of having a visible disability, but now I understand it from a different perspective.’”

Kennedy and Beaver have woven high-impact, community-engaged learning into nearly every step. Students practice the Assessment, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation and Documentation (APIED) process through the Mighty Monarchs Youth Wheelchair Sports program and the Senior Wellness Program at Harbor’s Edge, build interprofessional skills with campus and community partners and explore professional roles through clinical site visits. Bonnie Van Lunen, Ph.D., dean of the Ellmer College of Health Sciences, said, “Not only has the Recreational Therapy program substantively advanced the educational opportunities for students at the University, but it has significantly strengthened our academic offerings and enriched the field of therapeutic recreation.” 

Students feel that impact immediately. As alumna Claire Donohue ’25 shared, “These experiences taught me more than I could have ever learned sitting in the classroom and helped me build confidence, refine my skills and prepare for my internship and career.”

Since moving into the Ellmer College of Health Sciences in Fall 2023, the program’s enrollment has surged, and its graduates consistently describe their experience as exceptional. The ATRA Excellence in Education Award affirms what students, alumni and colleagues already know: Betsy Kennedy and Shelly Beaver have built a rigorous, compassionate, forward-focused program that changes lives in Hampton Roads and across the profession.