Wellbeing

Annika HawkinsHilke

Biography

Annika Hawkins-Hilke is the Assistant Vice President of Student Health & Wellbeing. Prior to this position, Annika served as the Medical Director of the Champlain College Student Health Center. Annika is a trained Family Nurse Practitioner and her background includes additional training and years of experience in mental health and psychiatry. Annika is passionate about building community and supporting our students as they explore the relationship between their personal wellbeing, academic success, and life goals. Annika finds joy in exploring the mountains and lakes of Vermont with her family in all seasons, gardening in her backyard, and sourdough bread toasted with butter.

What are your hobbies?

Skiing, camping, boating! Reading, cooking, gardening!

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

I love to go for runs in the Intervale, swim in Lake Champlain and swimming holes in rivers around the state, and ski our mountains in the winter. Vermont honey crisp apples and maple syrup make my heart sing!

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Erika Lea

Biography

Erika’s career in social work has spanned supervising after-school programming for high school students, home visiting for vulnerable families, teaching parenting classes for incarcerated fathers, directing the counseling program at a boarding school, and now co-coordinating both the Champ 101 Program and The InSight Program’s wellbeing theme. She joined Champlain College in 2019 and enjoys the innovative and supportive community, including the many student leaders who are the “special sauce” of the work she gets to do. She enjoys spending time with her family, dogs, and chickens. She also serves on the Champlain Valley School District Board of Directors.

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Hannah Marton

Biography

Hannah is the Clinical Operations and Health Promotion Coordinator at the Champlain College Student Health Center. Before transitioning into her current role in the Fall of 2022, Hannah worked as the Student Health Center’s Medical Office Coordinator. Hannah embraces her background in social work as the foundation for her professional and personal life. She values working directly with and in service to our students, recognizing that the unique needs of the individual impact the collective needs of the Champlain community. In her free time, Hannah enjoys being outdoors amongst all the natural beauty that her home state of Vermont has to offer.

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April Mentzer

Biography

April believes that people inherently know what they need and want in their lives. She views therapy as an opportunity to collaborate with those she serves, providing the support people need to overcome obstacles and thrive in their lives. April has her Masters and Bachelors in Social Work and has worked in the field since 2014. She is also a certified yoga instructor with over 20 years of experience teaching yoga.

April’s professional interests include group programming, mindfulness, wellness, strengths-based, and solution-focused brief therapy.

In her downtime, April enjoys walking and spending time with her friends and family.

What are your hobbies?

Walking, spending time with family and friends.

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Spending time outside.

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Emily Merrill

Biography

Emily joined the Student Affairs Diversity and Inclusion team in 2021 as a student support case manager. She especially enjoys collaborating with students who are parenting or caregiving while pursuing their higher education goals and marvels at the multi-generational impact that achieving a post-secondary education has on entire families. Emily is a born and raised Vermonter who spent many years living in Europe, Canada, and the southwestern US before returning to Vermont to raise her family. Over the years, Emily has served the Burlington community by supporting youth who are new to learning the English language, working to increase parent engagement within our early childhood systems, and facilitating valuable social connections to increase family resilience. Emily is an avid gardener with a background in organic vegetable and flower farming. When she is not busy helping others, Emily can be found hiking, camping, working in her flower gardens, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, creating costumes for youth theatre, or watching her children’s many extracurricular activities.

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Kimberly Quinn

Biography

Dr. Kimberly Quinn is our resident Wizard of Wellness and can be seen around campus donning a purple wizard hat and cape, and waving her wellbeing wand of positivity at a variety of wellbeing events. She also wows our GenZ-ers with weekly doses of Wizard of Wellness wisdom on Instagram. In addition, Dr. Quinn teaches a course that she designed called, Mindcraft: The psychology of well-being, which teaches our young adult college students how to live their very best lives. The Mindcraft course is loaded with excellent readings which stimulate self-discovery, as well as very practical strategies for managing anxiety and learning how to live an optimistic lifestyle. Dr. Quinn also facilitates psycho-educational workshops for students, faculty, staff, and parents on various topics related to wellbeing. Some popular Mind Magic interactive discussions are Managing the Monkey Mind and #selfcareisNOTselfish, which help students learn to manage the overwhelm of college life, and Teaching Them to Fish, which helps parents of incoming first-years navigate the changes of the exciting big leap to college. Other topics are The Amazing Neurodivergent Mind, which is a two-part discussion on The Fast Mind; The Core 4 Traits of ADHD Explained, and The Autistic Mind; Dazzlingly Different. Dr. Quinn is also responsible for the Mindful Times weekly newsletter, which provides a large dose of positivity on Mindful Wednesday for all who subscribe. Students are free to visit Dr. Quinn in her office for tips and tricks on how to take care of themselves while away at college.

One of Dr. Quinn’s favorite quotes is: “You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”—Robin Williams

Distinctions & Awards

Teaching in Excellence Award (2018)

Publications & Abstracts

Psychology Today

The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
How to Think like a Monk by Jay Shetty

What are your hobbies?

Podcasting & bonsai trees

Tell us about your favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

Skiing!!! And nachos and chicken wings at The Jay Village Inn in Jay, VT

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Kaylee Sullivan

Biography

Kaylee Sullivan is an experienced community-minded storyteller with a passion for sparking community engagement and collaboration. She loves bringing new ideas to life through comprehensive communication campaigns and strategies that span web, social media, print, campus promotion, photography, and other creative avenues. Kaylee works with a variety of offices and departments across campus including Student Affairs, the President’s Office, Marketing, Alumni and Parent Relations, Public Relations, and more to “connect the dots” and ensure content is accurate, visually appealing, and shared with all appropriate audiences and stakeholders.

When she’s not working on the latest exciting Champlain College project, she’s on the soccer field coaching local youth, hiking one of Vermont’s beautiful trails, biking along Lake Champlain, enjoying a game night with friends, or escaping into a good book.

What are your hobbies?

Coaching soccer, hiking, skiing, biking, reading, sipping maple lattes

Favorite local eateries and things to do in Vermont:

– One of my favorite Vermont activities is playing lawn games at the Burlington waterfront with friends at sunset. (With some Folino’s Pizza, too, of course)
– Summer isn’t complete without a maple and black raspberry creemee from Burlington Bay, a hike up Sterling Pond, and a bike ride (or many) on the Colchester Causeway.

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