NECC’s first Spring Jam since April 2019 came to fruition last month, drawing over 300 people to the Haverhill campus outside and inside the fitness and sports center. The annual resource fair offered food, games, activities, and information on the array of extracurriculars and programs NECC has to offer.
The resource fair was spread out on a clear spring afternoon, with outdoor activities such as tie-dye hosted by the art club, mini-golf, and an obstacle course by the U.S Army. Students could find even more activities within the gym, with over 35 tables hosted by a variety of different organizations and clubs alongside free lunch and desserts.
“Everything did go as planned, and I think that is due to setting a lot of time out to plan and get all the tasks done ahead of time […] I had no idea how many [people] to plan for and I guessed 300 but was not sure at all due to not doing this event for the past 2 years due to the pandemic,” said Stephanie Haskell, a key organizer of the event.
In the end, Haskell guessed that there were well over 300 attendees based on food plates and crowd size before and after lunch was served.
In addition to free food, games, and apparel, Spring Jam offered student interest forms to get emailed reminders for club meetings and other related news.
“We did get to talk to a lot of students, and we had 14 people fill out the SGA interest form […] Many students came over and won plenty of prizes, and we have plenty left over for future events. I loved being able to communicate with students, and surprisingly, the games got students to ask more about what SGA does,” said Franziska Hoene, vice president of NECC’s student government association (SGA).
Hoene, among other SGA members, hosted a carnival theme table with a variety of different games like spring the wheel and skeeball. In addition, the gym housed henna and caricature artists to attract as many students as possible.
Janel D’Agata-Lynch, NECC’s civic engagement, and service-learning coordinator, also played a key role in organizing volunteer opportunities for students.
“My office reached out to community organizations that have volunteering opportunities, as well as services that may be of interest to our students. We also helped with marketing Spring Jam to the NECC community and assisted with finding volunteers and securing snacks from Cedars Foods,” said D’Agata-Lynch.
D’Agata-Lynch’s work allowed for local organizations like the YMCA, Lazarus house, and Community action to offer students opportunities to get involved in their local communities beyond campus.
