Students host children’s carnival for class, charity; $300 goal met
Heather Stankovic had no idea that planning an event would be so much work.
But the Missouri junior and her teammates successfully hosted the Ronald’s McHalloween Playhouse Carnival Sunday in Finch Fieldhouse for their RPL 430: Plan Recreation Program and Events class.
“Most people cater their events toward students on campus, but we wanted to open our event to the children and families in the community,” Stankovic said. “I didn’t realize how much time it was going to take to plan all this and put it together.”
About 100 people attended the carnival and the group met their goal of $300 by mid-afternoon. All proceeds from the event will go to the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit, which is a safe haven for families of sick children to stay at while they are receiving treatment.
Students and members of the community all volunteered their time to help the event run smoothly. Children that attended had a wide variety of activities to participate in, including games like pin the nose on the pumpkin, bowling and ghost darts. Cotton candy, snow cones, face painting, a silent auction, cookie decorating and pumpkin painting were also available.
A magician was one of the main attractions that drew Mount Pleasant senior Stephanie Bristley and her 4-year-old niece Alexandra Russell.
“I’m really impressed with the amount of people that came and all of the activities,” Bristley said. “Alexandra is having a good time. Once she started winning the prizes she wanted to do more games. Plus she really wanted to see the magician.”
Stankovic said one of the most important lessons about event planning she learned was that it’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. The group was able to obtain almost everything they used during the event through donations.
Assistant Professor Tim Otteman, who teaches RPL 430, requires students to host their own event.
“In the classroom they literally learn everything from scratch,” Otteman said. “I can give you theory, but to watch them pull it off is the fun part for me. They’ve done a phenomenal job.”
