By Jennah Booth & Hannah Yates
American River College held its first Welcome Day of the year on Thursday. Representatives from all aspects of campus life promoted various clubs, businesses and academic departments.
Frankie Dotson-Johnson, the Center for Leadership & Development Student personnel assistant, coordinated the event and said one of the main goals of Welcome Day is to get faculty members to inform students on their respective departments.
Kathy Bradshaw is a biology professor at ARC who tended the biology department table during the event. The booth offered various specimens including a live cockroaches and millipedes.
She informed students on the many different biology classes offered at ARC, including those with an emphasis on fieldwork, such as natural history and marine biology.
“The key thing is… these are transfer level general-ed classes,” Bradshaw said. “There is a bit of a field base to them.”
In addition to the departments, many different clubs also participated in the event.
Isaac Drais represented the Engineering Club and the Design Hub, a class and internship program for student creations. The booth displayed a 3D printer and various trinkets made by students in the club.
Students can learn how to utilize the Design Hubs 3D printer for their different projects.
“We can teach you how to put the filament in the printer, how to slice the 3D model, and if you need extra teaching, we can teach you how to [use] AutoCAD, which is the software we use to make the 3D models,” Drais said.
The event also offered students with colorful entertainment including music, dancers and performers and clubs faced off in a lip sync battle.
Josh Bonzo was one of the dancers who utilized his skill to promote his club and events.
Bonzo is the president of the new For The People club and an intern for the UNITE Program.
“FTP does the same things as UNITE but will be “more accessible for students to get involved,” Bonzo said.
The Health and Wellness Center held booths in the Student Center, along with the first official pop-up craft station. Mary Stedman, a SAGE student ambassador from the Center for Leadership and Development, ran the booth. Stedman said the CL&D held a craft station previously, but this was first public one.
“A project that I’ve been trying to start is doing more creative activities for students to de-stress,” Stedman said.
Students also had the opportunity to learn about different military careers and options.
Sergeant First Class LaToya Bailey represented the Army and said that that students from college towns don’t usually consider the Army as part of their education, despite the financial aid and scholarships it offers.
Bailey describes the Army as “just another avenue to help students with their education.”
“We’re trying to promote the Army as an option,” Bailey said. “A lot of people who don’t know what their options are, and they’ll look to joining the military as a last resort. We’re just trying to show them that we are out here in the community, … and that we should be their first choice and not the last resort.”
Students will have another opportunity to check out ARC’s different clubs and departments on March 8 at 10:00 a.m.
