Category | Arts & Living

Family Fun Day gets student organizations involved

Published on October 26, 2009 by Jenny Harrison

KSU students and their families packed the University Rooms with laughter and energy Saturday as they participated in the annual Family Fun Day event. Music filled the air and invited parents, children and members of the organizations who helped create this event to jumped in and participated in the many crafts and games.

The Adult Learner Programs (ALP), Kennesaw Activities Board (KAB) and the International Students’ Association (ISA) collaborated to produce the event as a way to provide a fun sense of community for non-traditional students and their families.

“We started it because a lot of our adult learner population’s needs are a little bit different,” said Janese Thompson, project coordinator for ALP. “Integrating the families into their school really helps all aspects of their lives and makes things a little bit easier for them. This is one way to bring our programming directly to them.”

Thompson said that adult learners have many responsibilities and often cannot utilize all of the services on campus.  However, the ALP took this into consideration when planning the event. By holding it on a Saturday, more adult learners could attend.

Thompson also said the event helps to provide a sense of community across KSU by establishing relationships between students, faculty and staff.

Because so many different age groups were present on Saturday, ALP, KAB and ISA had to plan to keep all participants interested and active throughout the event.

“We get the ages of children attending through the registration forms so we know how many to expect in each age group,” Thompson said.

For the younger children, early childhood education majors set up an area filled with crafts and activities.  In addition to providing assistance for the event, this also allowed the ECE students to gain real experience with problem solving skills as they developed ways to keep the children attentive and entertained.

The older children and any other guests who wished to participate were involved with the games section that ISA created.

Between games, members of ISA displayed a slideshow with images and information about their home countries.

“We went at it really academically,” said Thompson. “Parents asked for more information about the countries. ISA is really on top of the whole thing and brings the cultural aspect in. They aren’t just playing games. They’re actually talking about their countries in the process.”

Co-adviser for the International Student Retention Services Melissa McMahon said the program will continue to evolve each year as the members notice ways to change the event to appeal to more age groups.

“We’re making the cultural information more age appropriate. It’s been a work in progress,” said McMahon. “Every year we tweak it and change it. If it’s not working, we yank it and move on.”

McMahon also said the ISA’s involvement in Family Fun Day is beneficial to the organization’s members as well.

“I think it’s an opportunity for the ISA students to interact with families since a lot of them don’t have families here,” said McMahon. “It’s really important that they do stuff on campus with other student groups. They have people get to know who they are.”

Jerry Longtin, a senior nursing major, attended the event for his second time on Saturday. He brought his children - ages six, 10 and 14 - to participate in the event.

“It’s a nice thing for kids to do,” Longtin said. “The kids really seem to enjoy the games and they usually have a good movie.”

Following the games and activities, families were provided with a lunch then preceded to the movie-viewing portion of Family Fun Day that was organized by KAB.

Thompson said both KAB and the parents want the latest movies shown at these events.

“There are so many good ones that come out that are appropriate,” said Thompson. “But we have to try to reach an age group of four and up and still have the parents interested in it.”

This year, KAB felt the movie “Up” fit the bill.

By the end of the day, participants received information about organizations they can join on campus, as well as a free lunch, face painting, coloring books and even possibly a free certificate to receive a copy of “Up.” In addition, each person received goody bags with treats similar to items in the movie.

Thompson said Family Fun Day will continue to develop as they observe new ways to improve the event each year.

“We have gone through a lot of different phases,” said Thompson. “But it’s always a fun day.”

Any students interested in attending the event next year should keep an eye out for flyers dispensed by KAB. Pre-registration is strongly suggested and links to the reservation form can be found on each organization’s Web site.  Students may also register in the Adult Learning Programs office in the Student Center.