CONFERENCE SESSION BLOCK 5

• Session 5A
• Session 5B
• Session 5C
• Session 5D
• Session 5E
• Session 5F

Panel: Working for the People

Description: 

Curious about working in a community recreation setting? Join this panel discussion of seasoned professionals who work in a variety of community recreation roles to discover what jobs are out there and what it's like to work for the people!

Presented by: 

Kelly McGinley, Recreation Director, City of Cheney Parks & Recreation Department

Bio: Kelly McGinley Ashe is the Recreation Director for the City of Cheney Parks and Recreation Department. She received her bachelor’s degree in Recreation and master’s degree in Recreation Administration from Indiana University and has 14 years of experience.

Carissa Ware, Recreation Supervisor, City of Spokane

Bio: Carissa Ware is a Recreation Supervisor with the City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Department. Carissa received her bachelor’s degree in Sports Management from Gonzaga University and a master’s degree in Behavioral Kinesiology from Boise State University.  Carissa frequently speaks to college students and young professionals throughout the year. She has presented previously at past WRPA Annual Conferences on the topics of field allocations, and young professional development. Carissa has served on a number of WRPA committees during her 8-year tenure in the field and was the recipient of the WRPA’s 2019 Young Professional of the Year honor.

Andy Fuzak, Event Manager - Pavillion Event Canter, City of Spokane

Bio: Andy has been in the Parks and Recreation industry for over 10 years. Currently, he works to coordinate large community events in an urban park environment. Andy worked his way up through the ranks starting as a student intern, then seasonal outdoor recreation guide/leader, eventually becoming a full-time supervisor in charge of several recreation programs and staff members. After transitioning to Spokane’s central urban park, he worked as an event specialist in charge of day-of-event prep and operations. Andy loves helping to provide a wide variety of events to make Spokane fun and exciting for residents and visitors.

Kevin Witte, Recreation Manager, Auburn Parks & Recreation

Bio: Kevin is the Recreation Manager for Auburn Parks and Recreation. He oversees all programs, facility rentals, teen center, and some events. Kevin is also involved with long-range planning, capital projects, and grant writing. Kevin has been heavily involved with WRPA and NRPA. Kevin wants to share the joys and rewards of working in the industry with future professionals.

Learning Objectives

• Discover vast positions you can hold in community recreation. 
• How to become a recreation professional. 
• Learn what recreation professionals do.

Drowning Prevention Culture at Your Facility

Description: 

Drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 0-5. We as aquatic professionals are the first responders in water emergencies, the first line of defense, and the best places to offer education about water safety. Develop or refresh the passion for drowning prevention at your facility with this session. Learn about the training, in-services, and community education centered around a drowning prevention culture.

Presented by: 

Kasia Robbins, Aquatics Manager, City of Hermiston

Bio: Kasia Robbins, is the aquatics manager and recreation coordinator for the City of Hermiston. Kasia is successful at developing and coordinating a variety of training and programs. Kasia has had an active role in the aquatics profession for over 13 years. Kasia combines her coordinating experience along with her aquatic background; to create fun and rewarding skill development programming and training for her staff.  Kasia has experience in speaking at state conferences, state summit/educational meetings and giving webinars during Covid-19. Kasia is looking to grow as a professional and share her extensive programming and aquatic knowledge with others.

Brandon Artz, Recreation Manager, City of Hermiston

Bio: Brandon Artz was raised in Central Washington and got his start in recreation while managing facility staff at the HIRC in Moscow, ID. After earning his Master’s degree in Recreation from the University of Idaho he has coordinated recreational programs.

Learning Objectives

• Upon completion of this session, participants will understand what a drowning prevention culture looks like in a facility. 
• Be able to plan, design, and implement a culture focused on drowning prevention. 
• Explain the role of a drowning prevention culture on the communities ability to prevent and react to a drowning.

The Intersection of Trees, People, & Technology

Description: 

Technology has revolutionized our world in many ways. Moreover, technology is increasing and being adopted at an exponential rate. This presentation will engage the audience through a discussion of how we can best utilize technology to not only manage our park trees and urban forests but also communicate and engage with the community about the many benefits of trees and the importance of community parks. People live in an ever-connected and globalized world. Park and recreation managers can use the human desire to learn more about their environment by engaging the public in a conversation about the trees that surround them. From recent examples, like an email campaign in Melbourne to local tree walks, we know that people love their park trees and want to learn more about them. Recent events surrounding the COVID pandemic have highlighted the importance of nature and especially the significance of connecting to nature by visiting community parks. This presentation will engage the audience through a discussion of how we can best utilize technology to not only proactively manage our park trees but also share quantifiable health and environmental benefits of trees with the public. This presentation will discuss how well-positioned park and recreation staff are in accessing readily available technology.  For example, by using web-based software we can create, update and manage trees, view complex reports, plans, & maps all on a phone. Virtual & augmented reality can even engage nonlocal or physically limited community members. Key case studies within the presentation will identify best management practices and emerging trends within the Intersection of Trees, People, & Technology.

Presented by: 

Anne Fenkner, Consulting Urban Forester, Davey Resource Group, Inc.

Bio: Anne Fenkner is a practitioner of green infrastructure, presenting 20 years’ experience in community engagement in urban forestry. As an Arborist and Urban Forester, she understands how healthy trees and a robust urban forest play a significant role in our health, well-being, and prosperity. She often remarks, œTrees are more than just nice. They are an important aspect of our infrastructure. Trees are infrastructure. Anne leads a diverse portfolio of equitable and sustainable urban forestry projects. She works with a wide range of stakeholders from grassroots to treetops as she brings diverse experiences to the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

Learning Objectives

• Attendees will be able to advocate for parks by using technology.
• Attendees will be able to engage and communicate the benefits of park trees to the public.
• Attendees will understand various applications for using technology to proactively manage park trees.

Identifying Mental Health Needs is Not the Hard Part

Description: 

In this panel discussion, we will delve into the growing mental health needs in our youth and teen programs and how we should address that need. The City of Shoreline has developed a unique program that uses youth voice and mental health access in their program model. The speakers will present what their program has done and what has worked for them in the last 4 years and then ask for discussion with folks around what they are doing and questions they have. How do we support staff and provide programming for our community where our young people feel welcome and safe? How do we create opportunities for staffing teams to know the youth well enough to know when something is going on with them?

Presented by: 

Amanda Zollner, Recreation Supervisor, City of Shoreline

Bio: Amanda Zollner has worked in the Recreation field for 25 years. She has worked for more than 16 years for The City of Shoreline and is currently the Recreation Supervisor overseeing the Youth and Teen Development Programs (YTDP). Amanda has worked with young adults for her entire career and has seen how recreation programs have changed lives by providing a combination of engaging programs, caring adults, and community partnerships. She feels that recreation is most powerful when it connects people together and empowers them to have ownership in their community.

Ashley Combs, Mental Health Therapist, Center for Human Services

Bio: Ashley is a therapist, and Licensed Clinical Social Work Associate who has been working in the Shoreline community for 7 years. She has been working as the Community Mental Health Therapist for the YDTP for over a year and a half, which is pandemic time has felt like 3 days and 300 years. She is passionate about providing flexible, comprehensive support to in the community, but more specifically to those who struggle to access mental health needs due to lack of resources. Ashley’s goal is to create sustainable avenues for young people to access resources that will aid in the care, autonomy of young minds.

Learning Objectives

• Discuss the Recreation professional’s role in mental health services.
• Learn how mental health services work. 
• Learn why developing partnerships and funding to access mental health services may be critical to healthy youth programs.

Who's in my Park? Big Data Insights

Description: 

Have you ever wanted to know just how many people visit your parks each year but don’t have access to gates and counters? Imagine if you not only knew how many visitors you had but also had a demographic profile and a better understanding of where these visitors come from. What if you had the ability to compare visitation trends over several years, seasons, or pre-and post-covid patterns? This session will explore the results of Lynnwood’s Park & Trail Usage Study conducted in 2021 by a team of data scientists using mobile device data. This presentation will showcase the types of data analysis performed, different ways to visualize data, and anecdotes on how this data has been used to secure grant funding, council support, and show the essential impacts of parks and trails.

Presented by: 

Sarah Olson, Deputy Director, City of Lynnwood

Bio: Sarah Olson serves as Deputy Director of Lynnwood Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts. As Deputy, she oversees long-range planning, capital development, and healthy communities programming. Under her leadership, Lynnwood was selected as a 10-minute walk grant recipient and is committed to inclusive community engagement and equitable park access and park planning.

Gauri Patil, Business Data Analyst, UW Tacoma Milgrad School of Business Graduate

Bio: Guari Patil is a business data analyst with a Masters of Science in Business Analytics. Guari served as one of the project managers for the City of Lynnwood's Park & Trail Usage Study using mobile device data to explore usage and user profiles for Lynnwood.

Monib Sabet, Business Data Analyst, UW Tacoma Milgrad School of Business Graduate

Bio: Monib Sabet is a business data analyst with a Masters of Science in Business Analytics. Monib served as one of the project managers for the City of Lynnwood's Park & Trail Usage Study with a focus on data visualization.

Kevin McInerny, Business Data Analyst, UW Tacoma Milgrad School of Business Graduate

Bio: Kevin McInerny is a business data analyst with a Masters of Science in Business Analytics. Kevin served as one of the project managers for the City of Lynnwood's Park & Trail Usage Study with a focus on data visualization.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will learn how big data can be used to create a visitor profile.
• Participants will gain insights into how data visualization can support funding and grant requests.
• Participants will explore how data profiles can deepen an agency’s understanding of who it serves through an equity lens.

Transformational Impact: Designing Public Spaces to Promote Intergenerational Play & Recreation

Description: 

By thoughtfully creating and programming outdoor environments with health and wellness in mind, parks can positively impact healthier lifestyles and promote physical activity across generations. Multigenerational spaces, recreation, and relationships sites in every community should be an everyday option to create greater understanding between generations as the population grows more diversified in age, race, and ethnicity. Fortunately, interest in using intergenerational strategies to create relevant community spaces, programs, and policies is growing. Our parks and public spaces have great potential to change our communities for the better. This session will explore Intergenerational design strategies aimed at bringing people together through purposeful, mutually beneficial activities that promote greater understanding and respect between generations.

Presented by: 

Jennie Sumrell, Community Outreach Director, PlayCore

Bio: Jennie worked in the field of childhood development and exceptional learning for nearly fifteen years. She received her Master’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Jennie has presented at over 500 regional, state, national, and international conferences and play symposiums on a variety of topics surrounding play and recreation.  She joined PlayCore in 2008 and serves as the Community Outreach Director within PlayCore’s Center for Outreach, Research and Education to assist communities in advocating for evidence-based outdoor environments which support the diverse needs of society.

Learning Objectives

• List three reasons why intergenerational play and recreation are important. 
• Outline five design strategies/considerations to promote intergenerational play and recreation. 
• Summarize case examples of park destinations that thoughtfully consider health and wellness across generations.

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