April 2021
The Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department
Honoring Black History Month The Zone recognized and celebrated Black History Month by creating a group bingo board. Starting with a blank board, patients and family members worked as a group to create a game to be aired on KidZone TV at the end of the month. The contributors were prompted to think about leaders, activists, artists, athletes, musicians, historical figures and more to include on the bingo board. This group project spanned the month of February and served as a great way to spark conversation about Black history with patients of all ages! In addition to our special, Black History Month Bingo, KidZone TV celebrated historical and current figures in art, music, fashion, and beyond. Every week shows such as, Café Music, Art with Jeremy, and Art History celebrated Black artists. On Café Music, Jasmine Edwards led our audience in some history on music legend, Bob Marley. She taught the importance of his messages, featured in his book, “Get Up, Stand Up,” and sang songs. Another Café Music show included a “Write Your Own Blues” workshop. On one episode of “Art with Jeremy,” art therapist Jeremy Martin featured a local art exhibition, titled “Postcards to Harlem” at the Harlem Museum. Patients created postcards about their hometowns and neighborhoods. Another show, led by child life specialists Gretchen Greenlee and Julia Kellogg, highlighted the Black history of the body positivity movement. The movement was led by Black women, most notably Johnnie Tillmon in 1972. Julia and Gretchen led patients in an art-based activity centered on body image and the history behind the movement and the message that “all bodies are good bodies.” Our weekly Art History show, with art therapist Katherine Parker, not only featured Black artists, but invited our audience to paint along and create their own masterpiece in the artist’s style.
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March is Designated as Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Month In March, our department celebrated Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Month. We enjoyed the opportunity to continue educating our colleagues about our disciplines and the role we play within the care of our patients and families. We created a schedule of events to celebrate the month which included a staff cookie break, an Instagram takeover, and KZTV programming. On Wednesdays, we rocked our CL & CAT Month T-shirts!
Child Life Council Focuses on Education The Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department continues to implement a Shared Governance model to help support and streamline a number of initiatives. The Education Council (EC), tasked with creating educational opportunities for staff both within and outside of the department, recently welcomed new members. It is now comprised of six child life specialists and one music therapist. In March, the EC focused its efforts on celebrating Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Month. A number of events, including an Instagram takeover to educate viewers on the work of both child life specialists and creative arts therapists, specialized KZTV programming, and a staff appreciation lunch were scheduled. An additional ongoing project of this council is a Lunch & Learn series aimed at elevating and sharing the expertise of specialists and clinicians within the department.
“REFLECTIONS” Provides Patients a Platform for Expression The Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department, along with Teachers & Writers Collaborative, is proud to present the most recent edition of REFLECTIONS: The Zone's Teen Art and Literary Magazine. REFLECTIONS, previously known as SURGE Magazine, provides an outlet for teens within the Mount Sinai community, and the community at large, to speak their minds, share their thoughts, and bring their visions to life on each page. This publication focuses on the theme of social justice, diversity, and inclusion through the varied perspectives and experiences of our collective community, voices of several Youth Advisory Council members, and pediatric patients. This collection of meaningful, honest, and thoughtful work reflects the lived experiences of our teens and young adults during this time. “My work goes towards the Black Lives Matter Movement because out of all people of color, black people have been given the most mistreatment and I want that to change, even if it is signing petitions, or making and publishing your art, because it speaks a story, just like REFLECTIONS,” said Savannah Wright, guest teen editor.
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“REFLECTIONS” Gallery Below you will find artwork and writing featured within this most recent edition. For a copy of REFLECTIONS Magazine: Winter 2021 edition, ask a member of the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy department, visit the Family Corner, or access the digital copy by scanning the QR code below!
Recharge Room Offers Opportunity for Serenity Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Child Life Zone has served as a respite and recharge space for patients, caregivers, and pediatric staff. Calming music, soft lighting, and the faint scent of lavender welcome everyone who enter the Zone’s recharge area to enjoy a complimentary warm beverage or simply close their eyes for a few minutes to de-stress. Thoughtfully developed to promote social distancing and safety, our creative arts therapists are able to host art therapy sessions for caregivers in this space where, as one parent described, “You feel a sense of freedom.” For staff throughout pediatrics, including nurses, pharmacists, physicians, the space provides a welcome respite from their clinical environments. Pediatric Nurse Manager Kasey Alesso-Carra is grateful that her team readily takes advantage of this opportunity for a midday recharge, stating “Thank you for making this available to all frontline staff to give them the space they need and deserve!” There is a suggestion box in the room, and we encourage feedback from those that we serve as we regularly refine and enhance the environment with an eye towards maximizing impact. A parent enjoys a quiet moment in the Recharge Room.
A panoramic view shows the calming environment.
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Paws & Play Corner
Staff Accomplishments Mount Sinai Hospital’s “Stories of Excellence” blog featured Music Therapist Jasmine Edwards for her work with a patient and family. The mother of this patient commented on how Jasmine’s work with her daughter allowed her to feel “very seen.” Jasmine Edwards is teaching “Cultural Humility in Music Therapy Practice” within the graduate music therapy programs at NYU and Nazareth College.
In March, we celebrated the “Gotcha Day” of Professor (left), who joined our team on March 20, 2017, and Moby (right), who joined our team on March 17, 2019. We are so grateful to have these hard working dogs on our Paws & Play team.
Sandra Angilletta passed the Art Therapy Credentials Boards Exam in January 2021 and met the requirements for licensing including the Registered Art Therapist and Licensed Creative Arts Therapist. Paws & Play Care for Clinical Teams coordinator Jackie Craig was interviewed by Anderson Cooper on how facility dogs remain an essential service during the ongoing pandemic.
Professor, Moby & Amos spread love and joy this Valentine’s Day.
Patients and staff were able to watch the dogs play on KidZone TV and outside their windows overlooking Central Park.
Child Life Specialists Marianne Porzelt, MS, CCLS, Ali Spikestein, MS, CCLS and Patient Tech Administrator Lu Borges presented in the Great Lakes Association of Child Life Professionals conference. The topic was “ Child Life Programming in the Epicenter of a Pandemic: Bringing innovation and technology to the frontline in New York City”
Welcome to New Staff Members and Interns Jeremy Martin is an art therapist and interdisciplinary artist of diverse interest. In 2018, Jeremy received a Master of Professional Studies in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute. As a creative arts therapist at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital, Jeremy works with patients and families offering video and digital art therapy. In his spare time, he works as a professional artist making commissioned portraits on iPads, watercolor paintings and resin sculptures. Jackie Kraft joins us as our KZTV Weekend Producer. Jackie is an acting major with a minor in communications at Marymount Manhattan College. She is from Glen Mills, PA and hopes to perform on a show like SNL someday. Jackie runs studio programming and video activities on the weekends and helps in live show productions two days a week. Art therapy intern, Sabrina Rodriguez, is a recent graduate from NYU and a current graduate student at The School of Visual Arts. Originally from Miami, Sabrina previously worked with children in a variety of settings not limited to art studios, classrooms, bereavement groups, backyards and now bedside in patient rooms. Although she loves all types of art making, she is particularly fond of collage, photography and gouache for creating multi-media art. Sabrina always has new music to recommend and pictures of the best sunsets from the week to share with others. Child life intern, Caitlin Lillis, is a graduate student at Bank Street College of Education earning a Master of Science in Child Life. Born and raised in New York, Caitlin is excited to be in New York City completing her child life internship at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital. Caitlin enjoys reading Harry Potter books and watching Disney movies.
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