Photo: Kelly Krigbaum, left, instructor and fieldwork coordinator of Wallace State Community College’s Occupational Therapy Assistant program, was presented the OTA Award of Excellence by the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association. The award was presented to her by her colleague at Wallace State, Allen Keener, right, the director of the OTA program, who is ending his two-year term as president of the state association. The American Occupational Therapy Association also recognized him for his service as state president.
HANCEVILLE – The Alabama Occupational Therapy Association recently recognized Kelly Krigbaum, instructor and clinical fieldwork coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Wallace State Community College, with the OTA Award of Excellence.
“That award is given to one Occupational Therapy Assistant who has demonstrated excellence in their profession or their area of practice,” said Allen Keener, director of the OTA program at Wallace State. “The award recipients are nominated by a peer in the state, and then an awards committee looks at the application and determines who gets the award.”
As president of the state association, Keener was able to present the award to his colleague.
“I was very surprised,” Krigbaum said of receiving the award during the state association’s annual fall conference. “I was very excited and very honored because Allen was able to be the one to present it to me, so it made it more special.”
Neither Krigbaum nor Keener knew she had received the award before the conference. Keener said he was proud to present her with the award.
“She does such a great job here,” he said. “She demonstrates a dedication for her students on a daily basis. She puts in long hours, works tirelessly, and makes adjustments to make sure students are learning. She knows what it takes to be a successful practitioner in the field and she wants to make sure that every student that comes into our program has those skills before they graduate.”
Krigbaum credits her 17 years in the field in a variety of settings for her ability to make sure her students are ready to work once they graduate and pass their certification exams.
“I had a student tell me they feel like I’m really trying to prepare them to go to work and not just teaching them the rote things straight out of the book, that they feel like we’re trying to prepare them to actually go to work in the field and not just pass the tests,” she said.
She points to Keener and her former instructor at Wallace State, Gail Hyatt, as her mentors in teaching. “She taught me a great deal,” she said of Hyatt, who is a past winner of the same award and now serves as part-time faculty after her retirement. “And I’ve learned so much more about OT from working with Allen, who is a great program director, occupational therapist and mentor.”
The American Occupational Therapy Association also recognized Keener for his service with the association in his role as president of the Alabama Occupational Therapy Association. He has served two terms as president of the state association, with his final term ending this year.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant program is a five-semester program offering an Associate in Applied Science degree. The first two semesters are pre-requisite courses that can be taken before applying to the program. The final three semesters consist of the professional components of the program. A new cohort starts each fall, with applications accepted through June 1 of each year for entry into the program.
The program boasts 100 percent pass rates on certification exams and a 100 percent retention rate for the most recent graduation class. Job placement rates are very high, with those students looking for work in the field finding it within six months of graduation.
For more information about the OTA program, contact Keener at 256-352-8333 or allen.keener@wallacestate.edu or visit www.wallacestate.edu.
