By Erin Jester
In the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions, capstone projects aren’t just a box for students to check on the way to graduation.
Krista Taylor, a recent graduate of PHHP’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, turned hers into a career.
Taylor, who completed her doctoral work in December, worked at Pace Center for Girls of Clay County during her capstone project. Over the course of 14 weeks, she led group sessions for teen girls on conflict resolution, self-esteem, social skills and vaping prevention, adapted from past Pace curricula, and developed a new group on emotional regulation.
“The emotional regulation and the self-esteem groups had significant improvements when I looked at them from a quantitative standpoint,” Taylor said — so much so that she was asked to stay. She was hired on a permanent basis as Pace Clay’s career and college readiness counselor.
Genelle Thomas, executive director of Pace Clay, said Taylor impressed her from her first week with the fresh perspectives she was bringing to the work.
Thomas had worked with occupational therapists in the past, and felt like adding one to the team of mostly education and mental health-focused providers would be a benefit to the girls. With some grant funding, she was able to create a position for Taylor: career and college coordinator.
“I knew the kind of training that OTs receive, and I knew the lens they brought to the table,” Thomas said. “I was thrilled to have an occupational therapist in this particular role.”
Plus, she said, the girls had developed a rapport with Taylor and asked for her to come back.
“That was my green light to make this happen,” Thomas said.
Pace was founded in 1985 by Vicki Burke, who noticed there were few to no resources for girls who had had contact with the justice system. She established the first Pace Center in Jacksonville, working with a group of 10 girls.
Now, Pace serves more than 3,000 middle and high school-aged girls a year across 25 centers in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Pace Centers offer at-risk girls academic and social services through a day program during regular school hours and an outreach program that brings mental health services to schools and communities.
Girls may be referred to the day program for truancy, academic underperformance, mental health needs, behavioral needs and other barriers to success.
“It’s not normally just one of these reasons for referral,” said Taylor, adding that Pace practices trauma-informed care to address the girls’ needs and lived experiences.
Taylor strongly identified with the organization’s holistic approach, a concept she said drew her to occupational therapy in the first place.
“I chose to stay here and step into a role that’s not even labeled as occupational therapy immediately after getting my degree because it aligns so heavily with my values,” she said. “I love the job that I do, and there is a big overlap in my job description with what occupational therapy does.”
Linda Struckmeyer, Ph.D., a clinical associate professor and doctoral capstone coordinator in the Department of Occupational Therapy, agrees.
“Occupational therapy practitioners working in schools can improve outcomes through prevention activities and by addressing participation in the everyday activities involved in school, including but not limited to both physical, social and emotional skills needed in the educational environment and in everyday activities,” Struckmeyer said.
Each day, Taylor meets with girls who are getting ready to graduate or who transitioned out of Pace within the last year to make sure they have the resources they need to succeed as fledgling adults. She’s in the process of developing a career readiness curriculum, and recently created a partnership with Goodwill Industries that will allow girls to take certification programs for fields such as basic health care and food safety.
In her new role, Taylor practices the same principles she did during her capstone project. Trust, she said, is huge.
“I was able to gain mutual trust with the girls that allowed them to be more open to the tools that I know work based on evidence,” she said. “They don’t work if the girls aren’t open to them.”
According to Thomas and Taylor’s own research, it did work.
Taylor distributed surveys to the girls as part of her capstone project to collect information about how well the programming worked. Several wrote about Taylor’s impact on them personally.
“She has helped me cope with my emotions and made me realize my worth,” one wrote.
“She helped me learn to think before speaking to keep me out of trouble,” wrote another girl. “She’s also taught me to love me for who I am and who I will become.”