Stockton University hosted its annual Baby Day event on April 6, bringing together about 120 students from Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Communication Disorders programs for hands-on interprofessional training. The event featured roughly 20 infants and toddlers, ages newborn to three years old, who visited campus with their parents and caregivers to participate in structured activities led by student teams.
Baby Day is a key part of the Health Sciences curriculum at Stockton University. It aims to prepare students for future careers in health care by fostering teamwork across disciplines and providing direct experience with young children. Student groups were formed from different programs so that each team brought varied perspectives to their interactions with the children and families.
“The health professions are interprofessional,” said Lauren DelRossi, associate professor of Physical Therapy. “So, it’s preparing them for future practice. It teaches development and also how to work as a team.” Mary Kientz, associate professor and Occupational Therapy program director, said the pre-event meeting is essential: “This helps to ensure all students will engage with the baby and caregiver.”
Throughout the morning, each baby rotated through two student groups while faculty observed but let students take charge. DelRossi said: “Students come up with the plan for the day. Faculty is here in a support role, but for the most part the students learn and the students manage.” At day’s end, faculty led a group debrief focusing on child development insights and teamwork experiences.
Flexibility was an important lesson as families sometimes canceled due to illness or other reasons. Kientz said these disruptions became learning opportunities: “The reassigned students realize they know much more about child development than they thought,” she said, “and still end up having good learning experiences.” Nursing student Ruth Kilasi described how adapting on short notice helped her grow: “Prepare for what you don’t know,” Kilasi said. “We weren’t given a lot of information… I kind of had to improvise.” She added that managing stress was key: “I’ve been learning to be calm… it makes things a lot easier.”
Alumni participation was another highlight this year as several returned as caregivers after previously attending Baby Day themselves as students. Sarah Citro brought her son Luca back to campus seven years after graduating from Stockton’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2020: “It’s cool to think that I was just here seven years ago,” she said. Catherine Richmond echoed this sentiment after returning with her own child: “I learned to just be very grateful for every profession… We need a lot of different roles.” Richmond also praised current student creativity during interactions.
Organizing Baby Day requires nearly a year of planning by faculty across four programs who coordinate logistics such as space reservations and family recruitment through alumni networks. Kientz explained: “It involves reserving space at least a year in advance,” noting that eight faculty members plus support staff assist during the event itself.
The event has continued over many years—including virtual adaptations during COVID-19—and remains popular among both participants and alumni caregivers who help sustain it.
