Kellie Watts

As a childcare attendant at the gym, I worked 3-hour shifts with another co-worker to watch over children while their parents participated in routine work outs. After the kids would leave, I would help clean and sanitize the room to keep it up to health protocols when working with children.

As a peer tutor, I often tutored students in classes I had already taken, aiding their academic success in the course from start to finish while completing my classes. Frequently, I had to retain the information from the previous courses to help accommodate multiple students in multiple subjects. I also managed paperwork for all students assigned to a tutor, including keeping tabs on their name, subject, grade in the subject, their level of improvement each session, their attendance rate, when they are scheduled per week, etc. When I was not tutoring students, I aided in managing the tutoring labs and making sure to keep the areas tidy after each session, as well as helping other tutors in their sessions when asked too.

As a STEM area director, I managed an area of engagement centered around STEM objectives, including maintaining the area as well as teaching the programming, robotics, and game design merit badges to BSA youth scouts ranging from ages 12-17. While serving as an area director/merit badge instructor, I also aided in multiple other areas around camp, especially in evening activities.

While at Pearl River Community College, I served in an honors organization called Phi Theta Kappa. During my tenure of service, I spearheaded a project under the category of Honors In Action - one of two prominent community college projects each chapter of PTK does yearly. The theme was "The Art and Science of Play," so my chapter decided to research how the impact of art programs in schools affects the cognitive development and behavior in children around elementary age. We researched the topic because the schools in the surrounding area do not have any available art programs for children during school hours. During the project, we searched through multiple research articles, put together and cited our claims, and then submitted it to a national committee to be judged. While the submission was reviewed, we planned an art day at our college for all ages to participate in multiple areas of art, from painting with local artists to paper quilling. We won #1 in the region for the project.

While at Pearl River Community College, I served in an honors organization called Phi Theta Kappa. During my tenure of service, I spearheaded a project under the category of Honors In Action - one of two prominent community college projects each chapter of PTK does yearly. The theme was "The Art and Science of Play," so for our theme the systems of play, we examined the lack of access to play for nursing home residents. Our research questioned "How does access to play, through travel and activity, impact the physical and mental well-being of elders?" We researched systems of play and looked at things such as the lack of mobility in older population, the experience of nursing home residents, access to travel, and the elderly and their experience with virtual reality. After gathering our research, we submitted it to a national counsel for grading. For our action part of the project, we purchased vr headsets to bring the play to the elderly at two of our local nursing homes.