continued article from RPTA in the Community

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RPTA IN THE COMMUNITY

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In Professor Keri Schwab’s RPTA 210 class, Introduction to Program Design offered in winter 2015, students worked in groups to help put on an event or program for a local organization. This year, the organizations involved included: Special Olympics, the Gender Equity Center, Cal Poly Athletics, and Camp Fire Central Coast. Rachel Romanelli (RPTA ’17) was part of the group that put on a dance-a-thon event for Special Olympics athletes at the Graduate in San Luis Obispo.

Romanelli said she learned a lot from this experience. “Our supervisor, Kenna Shannon, not only helped us every step of the way, but also allowed us the freedom to do tasks on our own in order to have a true event planning experience. The main lesson I learned through planning this event, is that I have to learn to quickly adapt and go with the flow,’ she said.

Another group in Schwab’s class worked with the Cal Poly Gender Equity Center’s PEN15 club to put on a performance entitled “Tales of the Tinder Man.” The purpose of the series of skits was to bring awareness to male gender equity issues, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination in everyday words and actions. Joy Lomax (RPTA ’17), who worked on the marketing portion of the event said, “I learned more about what it takes to put an event on together and the importance of working in a team and being flexible to different ideas. I also learned from the event that we hosted, the importance of not categorizing people in boxes, but rather treating people as equal.”

Something slightly less tangible, but still hands-on, was the effort of a group of students to create and conduct a recreation needs assessment for the city of Morro Bay. For their group project in another of Schwab’s classes, RPTA 360: Evaluation and Assessment Methods in Recreation, Parks and Tourism, students updated a survey, formatted it to be distributed online, and gathered responses from more than 200 Morro Bay residents. During this process, students gained valuable experience as they worked with local leaders and parks and recreation department heads, organized a focus group, and gathered and analyzed quantitative data. The result was a 25-page report that Morro Bay leaders can use to plan future recreation facilities, programs and general offerings.

Through these class projects and opportunities to volunteer, RPTA students gain valuable experiences and skills to help them in future careers, as well as make a positive impact in the San Luis Obispo community in which they live. The events students helped plan and implement have been huge successes, both financially and socially. The RPTA department is thankful for the partnering agencies’ willingness to work with students, and looks forward to seeing how students make a difference in the community in years to come.