Event

Activity Plan Explanation:

This program is intended for teens ages 13-18 years old participating in the City of Raleigh's Teen Outreach Programs.

Set Up: The event should be held at NC State University's campus and the participants should start at the Technology Tower at Talley Student Union. Name tags should be available in case the participants don't all already know each other especially if pulling teens from different sites within the TOPS program.

Welcome: In order to get everyone excited about being at NC State the leaders of the tour should introduce themselves and tell their favorite tradition at NC State as well as why they decided to come to NC State. If time allows, participants can introduce themselves to the group as well.

Mixers: As a mixer, the Human Knot game can be played which instructions can be found in the Appendix. Mixers can also wait until stop #5 when going to Court of Carolinas.

Stop 1: The first stop will be at Reynolds Coliseum where the teens tour the newly renovated gym as well as meet some athletes on the football and volleyball teams. Furthermore, interesting facts about the gym are shared with the teens.

Stop 2: After Reynolds Coliseum the teens do a walk through of Talley Student Union and come out on the other side by Carmichael student gym. Both of these are important to show the participants since both are heavily used by NC State students.

Stop 3: After these stops, the teens move to the Free Expression Tunnel to spray paint and learn about that NC State tradition. They also receive Howling Cow ice cream and are told about how it got started and that it is made right there on campus.

Stop 4: After learning about these traditions the participants move towards the Brickyard where they learn about DH Hill Library, the atrium, and get to experience the Wolf Ears, another NC State tradition.

Stop 5: The participants then move to Court of Carolinas where they learn how students spend their free time here in the big grassy area. Furthermore, if time allows the participants play their mixer game here just as students play games on the Court of Carolinas.

Climax: For the climax event the participants do a mock Krispy Kreme Challenge Relay at the Bell Tower. The leaders of the event split the teens up into two groups and each teen runs around the bell tower, eats one doughnut and runs back to their team. Then the next teen in the group can go. If desired, instead of running teens can crab walk, walk backwards, etc.

Cool Down and Thank You: After the Krispy Kreme Challenge, as a cool down winners will be announced and prizes will be given. Trivia questions can also be asked and prizes given to those teens that remember facts about the campus.

A route of this event around campus can be found in the Appendix.

Program Enhancements:

Planning: To get the participants interested in the campus tour, we went to go visit them at their TOPS sites to talk it up and hand out flyers. By speaking to them in person, we were able to make sure that they were getting ample and correct information, and it also allowed us to directly connect with the teens. We explained that the program was free and more dynamic than a regular college tour, plus we advertised free donuts and ice cream.

Anticipation: Since the program was specifically for TOPS participants, they already knew we were expecting them and putting on the program for them. This tied in with our planning phase, because we had to build excitement when we talked to them. We also had the TOPS supervisors and staff remind them of the event a couple of days before it happened to build anticipation. We also placed flyers around the sites to build anticipation and keep the event in the back of their mind.

Travel-To: The students didn't have to worry about finding us, as they all arrived together on a bus. We were at Reynolds to greet them as they got dropped off and to welcome them to the event. Furthermore, something that will help with getting them engaged during the travel to is their way into campus. During the ride they will get to see the bell tower and other parts of campus. We also planned to have the staff tell the teens some interesting facts about NC State on the way to campus.

Participation: Instead of just leading them around campus, we wanted make our tour more dynamic and memorable. We showed them major locations, but we also incorporated some fun activities along the way. There was a stop at the Free Expression Tunnel where they got to spray paint and eat Howling Cow ice cream and they also got to see Reynolds and meet some athletes. Finally, we wrapped up the tour at the bell tower where they got to participate in a mock Krispy Kreme Challenge relay race. Although participation in any of the stops along the tour were voluntary the teens really engaged in each of them.

Travel Home: Finally, once the Krispy Kreme Challenge was over and awards were presented, the teens walked back to Pullen Park where the bus was parked in order to go back to each of their sites. This also was a good time for them to reflect on the event and also remember our first program since they were where it took place, Pullen Park.

Reflection: In addition to the candy prizes that each teen got to take, we also advertised that all the pictures throughout the day would be sent to their supervisors so that they would have them as a keepsake and be used around each site to remind them of their time with the PRT students.