BEAR PAW Center at Western New England University

09/24/2025

On Friday, September 19th, members of the BPC Executive Board had the privilege of representing WNE at AOTA’s annual Hill Day in Washington, D.C.! We joined hundreds of OT students, practitioners, and educators to advocate for expanded access to occupational therapy in home health, mental health, schools, and telehealth.

09/22/2025

Exciting news! Our BEAR PAW Center Apparel Store is finally open!🐻🐾 The store is currently open until Thursday 9/25, however it is being extended to Tuesday 9/30! Buy all your items now because this is a LIMITED time offer and there may not be any other opportunities to do so. The link to our shop is below. Items will be shipped to your personal address and shipping typically takes 3-4 weeks. Thank you for supporting the BPC!

BPC Shop:

Hurry, shop closes 09/25/2025!

09/03/2025

Western New England University's Occupational Therapy program is excited to announce that we will continue our Pediatric Playgroup program for the Fall 2025 semester! These sessions will occur weekly on Tuesdays from 9-10:30 a.m. starting next Tuesday, September 9th. During this time, our occupational therapy students will lead themed group sessions, including snack time with snacks provided, for kiddos aged 18 months to 3 years old that will target the essential developmental areas, such as social skills and play. There is no pre-registration required, so if you are interested in attending with your child, we invite you to join us!

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to us at armani.mayes@wne.edu, rebecca.mayer@wne.edu, or (413) 796- 2174

08/27/2025

Say hello to the 2025-2026 Executive Board for WNE OT’s BEAR PAW Center!

02/11/2025

Please contact if interested!

01/21/2025

Hello all! WNE’s playgroup is starting back up again on 2/4! Please let us know if you plan on attending via Instagram message or either contacts at the bottom of the flyer. We cannot wait to see you all soon!🐻

01/06/2025

Feel free to message us over on Instagram as well! 🐻

08/27/2024

WNE’s Pediatric Playgroup is starting back up again on 9/10!
Please contact us via the phone or email on the flyer. Let us know the age of your child, any allergies or concerns, and if you are going to be attending the first week!
We cannot wait to see you all there!🐻🤍

07/14/2024

Some OTD students joined the BPC at the Down Syndrome Resource Group’s summer family picnic!

The students collaborated with OT Megan DeMorris and put on some activities that included an obstacle course, bubble machine, and a few smaller toys for the little ones! The event had so many things to do including corn hole, disc golf, basketball, coloring, and more!
It was a wonderful time and we cannot wait for the Buddy Walk in October!! (See the last few photos for more info) 🐻💛

06/26/2024

If you are looking for a support group dedicated to care partners of stroke survivors, join us at WNE OTD on the last Thursday of every month! This month's group is tentatively scheduled for 3:30pm (time may change depending on participant interest)

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=b3mltakZP0mcsnqItOmxI8XQxUWqkyZBqsRX7eREX9VURFJHUVYyVE5YMTJUWDBPR1RVWkFSRTJUMC4u

05/14/2024

Playgroup is starting back up again in the summer! In addition to our younger 18 months - 3 year age group, we are currently recruiting for our new adventure groups for preschool age!

Contact us if you are interested or have any further questions!!!🐻

05/02/2024

https://www.thereminder.com/LOCALNEWS/springfield/inaugural-bear-paw-roll--stroll-moves-around-the-w/

SPRINGFIELD — The very first Bear Paw Roll & Stroll made its way around the campus of Western New England University on April 25 to raise funds for and awareness about the Bear Paw Center, the on-campus occupational therapy program, part of WNE’s College of Pharmacy and Health Services.