Hannah Creasey & Camp Koinonia

Camp Koinonia is an outdoor education program for kids ages 7-21 who have multiple disabilities. The University of Tennessee offers the program for students of any major on a first come, first serve basis. Students are enrolled in a course during the spring semester where they learn about the different disabilities they might see at camp and strategies to work with these kids. After completing the course, students are assigned a camper and a cabin group and finally get to attend Camp Koinonia in April. Campers have a rotation of different activities each day consisting of subjects like cooking, art, music or working with horses. These activities are used for various fine and gross motor skill development, or in Hannah Creasey’s opinion, “Basically you get to play all week and it’s a ton of fun.”

Hannah Creasey, 21, is double-majoring in child and family studies and psychology. She is currently the Programs and Marketing Intern at the Autism Society of East Tennessee and plans on getting her Master’s degree in Child and Family Studies after graduation in May. Hannah is a sister of Phi Mu and a member of Order of Omega.

Hannah found out about Camp Koinonia through friends who had already participated and she never looked back. When asked about her favorite Camp K memory, Hannah explained that at the end of the week, the camp puts on a talent show. Her camper loved the Disney movie Frozen and she and Hannah got on stage and sang “Let It Go”.

“She definitely sang better than I did, so I ended up being the back up singer and I just let her do her thing,” Hannah said.

Hannah wanted to encourage anyone, whether they have a high interest in kids or not, to participate in the Camp Koinonia program, “simply because it is an experience like no other.”

Unfortunately, Hannah cannot participate in Camp Koinonia this year due to her responsibilities with her internship, but she loves the work she’s getting to do at the Autism Society and is excited for her future working with kids.

Hannah has also volunteered for East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, United Way and more.

#thevolunteermovement