South Carrick Pie Your RA Program

On Thursday, October 14th, South Carrick hosted a program entitled "Pie Your RA" to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  South Carrick RAs Lindsey Marlin, Elizabeth Miller, Adrianna Boghozian, Lauren Smith, Hannah Ashitey, Kristen Knight, Catherine Cheatwood, and Ashlyn White all bravely volunteered to be pied by residents that paid $1 per pie, plus 50 cents if they wanted chocolate syrup added to the pie. 

This event was held in Presidential Courtyard, which was a nice, high-traffic area sure to attract a lot of visitors.  There was great publicity displayed to advertise the program.

This program was a fun and profitable way to raise money for a great cause.  Fantastic job, South Carrick ladies!

West Side RA of the Month for October - Kate Whitehead!

Congratulations to Morrill RA, Kate Whitehead, on being selected as the West Side RA of the Month for October!

Here's what Kate's nominator, Morrill Hall HD Sam Whalen, had to say about her:

Kate has done a tremendous job as an R.A. this year. The month of September was no different. Here are some examples.

- Flag Football Team – Kate organized a flag football team for her floor. They are named the 12th Floor Twisters. They made tie-died uniforms. They won their last game 45-0. Kate was super excited about that. Here is what Kate had to say about her flag football team: We had a flag football game on every Tuesday this month, four games in total, on September 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. Although we lost the first three games, we won the last game 45-0. The last game in particular promoted good sportsmanship, to find the balance between being excited about winning but gracious to the other team. There were 20 residents on my roster, but usually we had 12 or 13 play per game. These games encouraged floor unity, but also made sure that the girls got some exercise in the process.

- Open Door Nights – Kate has started rewarding her girls for keeping their doors open. She walks around her floor on random nights of the week and gives candy to the girls who have their door open.

- Good Grades Program – Kate has started a program to encourage her girls to have good grades. She has them write good grades that they get on a notepad outside her door. She created door tags that say “A Smart Girl Sleeps Here” Each girl gets one of these door tags after posting good grades. So far 11 girls have posted good grades

- Here is Kate’s Description of program she did: On Wednesday, September 15th, I co-hosted a program with Michael Henry on the 11th floor called "We're Wild About Friends: Speed-Friending" in order to encourage our residents to meet new people on their own floor and on the buddy floor. With the help of URHC funding, we bought 200 Buffalo Wild Wings and had a total of about 40 residents show up (roughly 20 residents from each floor). Although the program was slightly awkward at first, we provided 15 sample questions in case our residents couldn't think of topics to discuss. By the end, there was lively conversation, and many of my residents have since told me that they enjoyed the program.

Pictures of what Kate has been doing on her floor:

Congratulations, Kate! 

Here are the other awesome West Side RAs that were also nominated as RA of the Month for October:

Hess - Alexia Greene
Humes - Brook Beasley
North Carrick - Josh Lynn
Reese - Michael Brewington
South Carrick - Kristen Knight

In staff meeting, the West Side HDs and Anna discuss the nominees and select the RA of the Month. Each month, the RA of the Month is featured on the bulletin board outside the West Area Office!

VolAware

The annual VolAware Stomp Out Stigma Concert and Street Fair are this Tuesday and Wednesday. The events aim to raise awareness for mental health issues on our campus. VolAware is UT's mental health awareness, wellness and suicide prevention campaign.

These events are great programs to bring your residents to!

Stomp Out Stigma begins at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12, in Presidential Courtyard. Local recording artist JayStorm will perform, and organizations from the UT chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council will participate in a "stroll-off competition."

The fair takes place at the U.C. and the U.C. Plaza from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, and will give students and the community the chance to meet mental health professionals and learn about services on campus and in the community. Students attending the fair will be given participation certificates that they can use for credit in certain classes. Those who participate in QPR suicide-prevention training and get signatures from visiting a set number of booths will be entered into a drawing for a $500 book loan to the UT Bookstore!

For more info visit http://volaware.utk.edu/StreetFair.html

Happy (Almost) Fall Break!

Wampus Cats, Fall Break is almost here!  You've just got a day and a half to go!

Wherever your Fall Break plans may take you, here's hoping it's a time that includes a well-deserved rest from your midterms.

Image from Google Images

If you're staying around Knoxville, enjoy the quiet time as many of your residents depart for the break.  Fall Break in Knoxville can be a great time to relax and be productive, with fewer residents in the halls and less traffic throughout the city.   

Don't forget the West Area RA meeting tonight at 9pm in the U.C. Auditorium!

Morrill Hall Program - Eat This...Not That

Morrill Hall RA Sarah Gregory did a lovely program entitled "Eat This...Not That" on Thursday, October 7th.  Here's Sarah's description and photos of the program:   

The program was entitled Eat THIS...Not THAT, and I had a total of 9 girls participate. I asked each of the girls to find a partner on the floor who was not their roommate or suitemate to encourage them to meet new members on the floor. Once they arrived, I had them make a sign that said "This" on one side and "That" on the other side.

For the game, I selected various restaurants around campus such as KFC, IHOP, and Subway, and selected two foods from each. I then described each item of food, and asked them to guess which had the least amount of calories. They discussed with their partner, then held up whether they thought it was "This" or "That." In between rounds, I was able to talk about foods that may seem healthy, but are packed with TONS of calories. Also, sometimes, it's alright to splurge and eat what you want! For example, my girls were shocked to learn that an a spinach and mushroom omelette has more that twice as many calories as a short stack of pancakes with syrup. As a prize for participating, all of the girls and myself are going to attend a Cardio Hip Hop class together, then come back to the lobby and make our own smoothies. This program was a great way to talk about good eating choices and have a good time as well!

Thanks for sending in your photos and program description, Sarah!  Wonderful job on your program!  :)