Emily has been the Director of AWAKE since January 2023 when the program restarted following a pandemic pause. Emily is passionate about providing opportunities for children and youth to develop their physical literacy and engage in active play. AWAKE provides an opportunity to help children be physically active before school, while also providing a fun learning opportunity for Acadia students who are interested in teaching, leadership, and coaching roles.
Hannah Miller Hockey Tournament
Dr. Rene Murphy
Hannah Miller was a 7-year-old enthusiastic minor hockey player who was tragically killed in a car accident in Port Williams. To perpetuate her passion for hockey and to provide opportunities for young players to play and have fun doing so, in March 2006, the 1st Annual Hannah Miller Memorial Hockey Tournament was organized by Dr. Murphy, her family and some Acadia students. This tournament is now an annual event where 22+ teams and over 320 players annually enjoy a full day of activities at Acadia. Dr. Murphy continues to oversee this annual event in memory of Hannah, and mentors students interested in event management.
Kinderskills
Dr. Darren Kruisselbrink
For the past 24 years, Darren has been the Director of a play-based preschool movement development program called Kinderskills. Three things inspired him to create Kinderskills:
- He was looking for an experiential learning activity for students in the motor development course he had been assigned to teach;
- He had young children at the time which helped him see how important growing up in a rich and supportive movement environment was in developing body awareness and confidence;
- Prior to his arrival at Acadia there had existed a gymnastics based program for kids that, from all accounts, was very popular.
Put these three things together and, in Kinderskills, preschool kids are able to play with all kinds of toys and gear that they might not have at home, and they do this while developing a relationship with an instructor (university student) buddy with whom they’ve been paired.
