New Team Members & Partnerships

New Team Member: Alexis Benedict, Early Education Curriculum & Training Specialist Our former Preschool 1 Lead Teacher will be returning to Cultivate Mankato in a new role! As the Early Education Curriculum and Training Specialist, Alexis will be supporting our team with curriculum and in-person training. More information coming soon!

Partnership: Fit and Grit Training We have partnered with Fit and Grit Training! Once a week, Fit & Grit Training will be coming to Cultivate to do fun large motor activities with our preschoolers!

Mention that you heard about Fit & Grit Training at Cultivate Mankato and get a FREE fitness or nutrition assessment. To learn more about Fit & Grit Training visit: www.fitandgrittraining.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/FitAndGritTraining Instagram: @fitandgrittraining

Partnership: Sam Olsen, owner of Persist Therapy Hi Cultivate Family! Cultivate “ officially ” introduced our partnership in the March newsletter and this month I’d love to tell you more about Persist Therapy and the Persist + Cultivate partnership. My name is Dr. Sam Olsen and I am the founder of Persist Therapy. We have been in business for a little over a year and we are so excited to be partnering with Cultivate--a company that shares the same passion as we do for working with children. Currently, our Persist Therapy team consists of Occupational Therapists (we hope to continue to grow our team in the future). The thing that I love most about being an occupational therapist is all the different things that we can work on and the unique lens that we bring to the professional table. An overarching definition of occupational therapy (OT) is allowing people of all ages to feel accomplished in their lives. We help people to be independent, find joy and success within the activities that we do daily and find meaning and value within their roles and routine. For children in (OT), that can mean so many different things—helping improve independence level with daily cares, assisting with coordination that impacts play, dressing, sports or academics, modifying environments to fit sensory needs, teaching emotional regulation, and the list goes on and on (and on). Our goal is for kids to feel motivated, confident and capable in completing the things that matter most. We do things a little differently at Persist Therapy and I’d love to share a little background and the why behind it. We are the ONLY occupational therapy practice in southern Minnesota providing mobile occupational therapy. What does that mean? We come to YOU! If your child is struggling at home, we are in your home. If your child is struggling at child care, we are in their child care. If your child is struggling in the community, we will meet you there. While working in the clinic, a parent once said to me “it’ s great that things are working here, but it isn ’t working anywhere else ” and she was right, therapy needs to happen where the struggles are happening and that is exactly what we are doing. We focus on collaborating with the entire team to meet therapy needs. We want to work hand in hand with the people that know the child best-- parents, caregivers, teachers, and other professionals to teach what we know and how to use it. Our philosophy—the more people, the more progress.