Features

Stuff-a-bear event is a hit

 
A woman stands at a table in the Spurk building and puts stuffing into a pink hippo.
Participants got to pick an animal and then fill it with stuffing at the event in February. Photo by Janie Dunn

On Monday Feb. 13, the Office of Student Life at Northern Essex Community College hosted their event “Stuff-A-Bear.” This event took place in the first floor lobby in the John Spurk Building on the Haverhill campus.

The event started at 10:30a.m. and went until 12:00p.m. The event was hosted by the Coordinator of Student Life, Stephanie Haskell and Student Life Assistant Coordinator, Suzanne Reyes.

I attended this event and was pleasantly surprised.

When I walked into the “C” Building lobby, the lobby was packed with students. There were three tables that were covered in yellow tissue paper and had stuffing spread across them.

I walked over to the table where Stephaine and Suzanne were and I saw there were boxes with the bears you could stuff.

There was a rainbow teddy bear, a golden teddy bear, a pink hippo, and a pink axolotl.

When you walked up to the table, you entered your Student ID into a computer and picked out which bear you wanted to stuff.

Once you had chosen your bear, you walked over to the yellow tables and started stuffing your bear.

Along with the stuffing for your bear, there were also little red hearts to put in your bear and little birth certificate papers to fill out for your bear.

When asked about what they thought of “Stuff-A-Bear,” NECC student Sarah Peirson said, “I loved it! I think it was really a unique idea for something new for students to do.”

NECC student Savanna Masters said, “I thought it was so cute and exciting and clearly there was a good turn out because they started running out of them [bears] so I think we should do it again”.

White stuffing for the stuffed animals is shown lying on a table in the Spurk building.
Participants enjoy putting the stuffing in their animals at the Stuff a Bear event in February. Photo by Janie Dunn

When asked why this specific event, Haskell explained to me, “In my job in Student Life, I pick out all the different events for students. Obviously sometimes my colleague Suzanne helps [pick which event to do] as well but this one was one that I chose.”
Haskell said, “This is like a fan-favorite everytime we do it with students. Literally always sells out super quick.”. This was the last Student Life event Haskell organized as she is leaving NECC to pursue a new job and she will be terribly missed.

As you can see, this event was enjoyed by many NECC students and it was a success.

For more events and information on events like this one, you can view the Student Life event calendar on the NECC website.

Editor’s note: Stephanie Haskell left her position with NECC later in February for another career opportunity.