Hess Hall Caribbean Cook-Off

Hess hosted a Caribbean Cook-Off program on Wednesday, March 9th.  This program had awesome attendance and featured some amazing food!  Over 100 people participated and $100 was raised for the St. Lucia Association for Persons with Developmental Disabilities.  Hess RAs Dadrien Barnes, Matthew Moore, and Stephanie Pierce coordinated with Hess Hall Council to host this program.  

This program featured a Caribbean cooking competition.  Vincent Charlow's Cooking Team took first place!  On this team were Jessica Newsom, Alexia Greene, Cep Rice, Jasmine Milligan, & Simone Jones.  Stephanie Pierce's Cooking Team had Shafer Belisle, Aeron Glover, Matt Moore, & Cedric Brown.  Dadrien Barnes' Cooking Team had Heather Thomasson, Angela Frantz, Martin Binhammer, & Kamilah Mull.

Way to go, Hess!  :)  What a fantastic program!

Carrick Program - Spring Break Bash!

On Wednesday, March 2nd, South Carrick RA Mia Mitchell and North Carrick RA Elijah Lightfoot put on a substance abuse education program called Spring Break Bash in the South Carrick TV Lounge.  North and South Carrick residents enjoyed non-alcoholic margaritas and strawberry daiquiris.  Each drink was served with educational alcohol awareness facts. 

South Carrick RA Mia Mitchell making non-alcoholic drinks.

North Carrick RA Elijah Lightfoot pouring fellow North Carrick RA Jonathan Leach a non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri.

North Carrick RAs Jonathan Leach and Elijah Lightfoot interacting with residents.

North Carrick RA Brandon Woodmancy hanging out with a resident.

North Carrick AHD Alex Merchant enjoying a non-alcoholic margarita.

The goals of this program were to encourage residents to engage in safe and healthy lifestyles, develop personal and social skills with one another, and link them with their floors.

Alcohol fact sheet distributed with the non-alcoholic drinks.

After enjoying their beverages and learning about alcohol facts, everyone walked over to HYPER together to go rock climbing on the rock climbing wall.

Great job, Mia and Elijah!

Morrill Hall Acoustic Night - Duet Again!

Morrill RAs and MHRA hosted their 2nd Acoustic Night program of the year on Thursday, February 24th.  Their first Acoustic Night of this year was in the fall semester.  There were 2 Morrill Acoustic Night programs during the 2009-2010 academic year as well.  Morrill Acoustic Nights always seem to feature an impressive array of musical talent amongst the performers.  At Thursday's Acoustic Night, some residents' parents even attended the event to watch their sons and daughters perform!  Food and door prizes were available for all who attended.  Even yours truly won 2 coupons for Ober Gatlinburg!  $5 per person was charged at the door to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  Over $200 was raised for Habitat! 

Morrill AHD Lindzy Conley, RA Kate Whitehead, and RA Sara Knoll.

Morrill RAs Thad Cole and Sarah Gregory showcasing their musical talents.  My apologies for the poor picture quality.  The room's lighting was dim to set the relaxed atmosphere. 

Morrill RA Tyrone Beach was the DJ.  Here he is drawing a name for a door prize.

Residents performing.

Residents performing.

Great publicity in the Morrill lobby!

Acoustic Night was even featured in the Tennessee Journalist!  Great job Morrill!  What an awesome program that has become a wonderful tradition in Morrill.

North Carrick "Find Your Study Buddy" Program

On Sunday, January 30th, North Carrick RA, Tyler Graves, hosted a "Find Your Study Buddy" program for his residents. 

Tyler's goals for this program included: 
- Help residents find classmates who are in/have taken the classes they are in now.
- Help residents understand time management skills.
- Help residents develop better study skills.

Tyler had a sign to publicize this program:

This sign was placed in the elevator lobby, which was a high traffic area on his floor. 

Tyler had his residents come to the Study Lounge with their class schedules.  Tyler had his residents group up with people who have similar class schedules.

Tyler also talked with his residents about how to manage time and always have a planner active, along with giving them some general study tips.

Helping your residents form study groups and find study buddies is a great way to help them succeed academically! 

Good job, Tyler!

Morrill Hall Acoustic Night

On Thursday, November 4th, Morrill Hall hosted an Acoustic Night program to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  Morrill Hall's Habitat Honchos, RAs Kelsey McCoy and Sarah Gregory, organized the event along with MHRA.  The event was held in the Humes West Multipurpose Room. 

There was some great advertising to lead residents to the event:

There was awesome attendance at this program!  The place was packed with residents enjoying the relaxed, mellow atmosphere and musical performances by some AMAZINGLY talented residents.  Seriously, these students have skills!

There were yummy, coffee house-esque refreshments available:

Some of the Morrill staff showcased their awesome musical talents as well:

By charging a $5 suggested donation for admission, over $300 was raised for Habitat for Humanity!  Way to go Morrill!

Hess Program - Two Hands, One Sandwich

On Thursday, October 28th, Hess Hall hosted a fantastic program entitled "Two Hands, One Sandwich."  Hess RA Vincent Charlow planned and coordinated this program.  Several Hess RAs and Head Staff stopped by throughout the program to support and help out. 

Residents passing through the lobby were offered the opportunity to make sandwiches that would be distributed to homeless individuals through Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries.  This program was well publicized and held in a well chosen location, the Hess Hall Lobby, that allowed a lot of residents to participate.

Many residents stopped by and lots of sandwiches were made!

Oh no, is that Fainting Goat Jeannie Hopper in this photo?!  Love how the Hess Staff is able to "reach across the aisle" and work side-by-side with a Fainting Goat in the interest of helping others.

So many sandwiches!

This program was a wonderful way to engage residents in helping out members of the Knoxville community.

Excellent job, Vincent!  :)

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!