Volunteer Spotlight: Katrina Decanini

Katrina (shown above) begin volunteering with DSI this October when she and Karley came up with the idea for the Movin’ and Groovin’ Dance Class for a class project. “I love seeing all the different and new people you can meet through doing different events. It is rewarding to watch people grow and develop and truly enjoying themselves.”, said Katrina when asked about volunteering at Down Syndrome Indiana.

A Little More about Katrina

Katrina is a full-time senior at University of Indianapolis in Public Health Education and Promotion. Her future plans include getting her Master in Public Health and eventually going back to school for a Doctorate in Physical Therapy.  She loves to work with individuals that are injured and or have a disability.  She likes to be able to find ways to make them move and bring them closer into society. She feels each and every person is a learning experience and finds it is amazing to see people strive for more and excel because of what she teaches.

Katrina’s roots in dance go back to when she was 3 years old. She did ballet, modern dance and jazz all the way through high school. Her freshman and sophomore year of college, she was on the UIndy Dance Team. She discovered her love for rehabilitation and therapy through her multiple dance injuries, which include dislocating both knees and a knee surgery.  

In addition to school and volunteering at Down Syndrome Indiana, Katrina is an intern with Special Olympics Indiana for their Health Fitness program. She also works at Topgolf in Fishers. Over this past summer, Katrina also volunteered with Live, Laugh, Dance. She says, “That definitely helped the ideas and process of Movin' and Groovin'”.

 When Katrina somehow finds time in her life, she finds cooking and baking to be a lot of fun. She loves experimenting and creating foods with what she has available. She also has a cat and chinchilla that she loves very much.

Katrina has an uncle with Down syndrome who lives in Mexico.