SEM class supports community organizations through coursework

The oversized check presented last week to the seven students from Excel Christian Academy was nearly large enough to hide the youngsters. Below their big smiles and small hands was the sum of $860.44, a donation to the Burlington school from Assistant Professor Shaina Dabbs’ “Event Management” class.

During the fall 2016 semester, the sport and event management course hosted fundraising events benefiting the academy as well as the Boys & Girls Club of Alamance County. The class divided into two sections to create, plan, manage and execute an event for each organization. The fruits of the students’ work were celebrated on Dec. 8 with separate check presentations.

The “Event Management” class kicked off its fundraising efforts in late October, with one group hosting a Fall Tailgate and Halloween Trivia Night. The student-organized event raised more than $1,500 in support of the Boys & Girls Club. Three weeks later, a second group presented Tailgate for Tykes, raising $860 for Excel Christian Academy.

Dabbs said she was impressed with how her students put lessons learned in the classroom into action, thanks in large part to their enthusiasm for the organizations and their respective missions.

“These students worked tirelessly to create events that would raise money and awareness for organizations within the Burlington community,” said Dabbs. “This level of community engagement and service benefits the students, university and our community as a whole. It is evident by the success of these two events that students applied what they learned in the classroom to the real world.”

For Alexis de Groot ’17, who was one of 11 students to host the Fall Tailgate and Halloween Trivia Night, the benefits of the class assignment were two-fold.

“I really enjoyed running such an incredible event that was able to provide entertainment to the Elon community and benefit such a phenomenal organization at the same time,” the sport and event management major said. “At the event, it was amazing to see how many students were willing to support the Boys & Girls Club through donations and volunteering.” 

​She added, “Throughout the entire semester we have learned the step-by-step process to planning an event so essentially our event took the important concepts we learned in class and brought them to life.”

Students Carly Ackerman-Canning, Gordon Bailey, Jordan Barrett, Ryder Bowline, Gabby Citrone, Abbie Dalton, Patrick Keneally, Catie Ryan, Alex Simon and Hailey Winter also worked on the Fall Tailgate event, held before the Oct. 25 Elon men’s soccer match.

Madeleine Ker ’17, a sport and event management major, explained she appreciated that the students were involved in the projects from beginning to end.

“I really enjoyed the hands-on aspect along with taking part in the whole process – from choosing an organization and setting goals to planning and running the event itself,” she said. “This course is unique in that it brings together topics that we have learned in multiple classes within the department.”

Ker teamed with 10 fellow students to host the Tailgate for Tykes, held prior to the Nov. 12 Elon home football game. Other students involved included Kelsey Badmaev, Audrey Engelman, Graham Goslin, Chris Humphreys, Christian Johntson, Josh Kanney, Dimitri Lettas, Nick Regan, Larry Salvucci and Maddy Williams.              

In addition to their seven smiling students, Larry Covington, Davina Woods and Anum Garraway of Excel Christian Academy were also hand for the check presentation. Representatives of the Boys & Girls Club of Alamance County included two Elon alumni, Robby Burnett ’91 and Tara Nager ’12, as well as Sherri Henderson.