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Printer-Friendly ModeA weekend with the kids
Campus organizations host annual Kids & Sibs Weekend
February 20, 2006 —
On Friday, SVSU students started lining up in Student Life to check in their guests for Kids and Sibs Weekend. The guests that students brought in were mostly younger brothers and sisters, cousins, or close friends.
Since most of the children that attended Kids and Sibs Weekend were young, the weekend's activities did not start until Friday evening, after most schools let out. One of the first events was "Story Time with Milk and Cookies," offered in the Alumni Lounge. Younger children gathered in front of the fireplace for a few hours with snacks as they listened to stories.
Later on that evening, the RFoC offered a special Karaoke and Snacks event. People came into the RFoC to get a special evening snack and sing their favorite songs.
Bright and early Saturday morning, SVSU students and their siblings lined up in the Cardinal Cage for a special pancake breakfast. The big screen televisions in the Cage played everyone's favorite Saturday morning cartoons while they enjoyed their meals.
Freshman Wendy Errer brought with her two sisters and her boyfriend.
"We really enjoyed the pancake breakfast and even got to all play some games together," she said.
In the Ryder Center before the women's and men's basketball games, basketball clinics were offered. During these clinics, the children were offered the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the game and meet other siblings that were at SVSU for the weekend. They also received a coupon for a free hot dog and soft drink for participating in the clinic.
According to sophomore Kristen Vanderwater, her 10-year-old sister Courtney and 10-year-old cousin Natalie Bertolone had enjoyed the activities of the morning.
"We had a lot of fun doing the arts and crafts, swimming in the pool, and they loved the rock wall," said Vanderwater, a Muskegon native. "The best part of the weekend was being able to spend some quality time with my sister and cousin, since I don't get to see them that often."
The inflatable rock wall, located in the East Arena of the Ryder Center, was a big hit. The line was very long, but the kids patiently waited for their turns. Unexpectedly, there was only one operator for the wall, so it took longer to let everyone climb than the staff had anticipated.
Despite the lack of operators, the event run smoothly, according to student volunteers.
"I think the kids are enjoying it," Allison Byers said during the event. "Even though there's a long line, they still come up very happy as they're getting fitted with the harnesses."
While waiting in the long line, SVSU student Sara Barrett talked about the great time she was having with her adopted sibling for the weekend.
"I brought along my friend's daughter, Andrea Urbach, with me today," Barrett said. "So far we've done all the activities and have had a lot of fun doing so."
The Program Board-sponsored bear-building workshop seemed to be one of the highlights of the weekend.
Starting off with some confusion about times of the event and where to receive the vouchers for the bears, the event ended up being successful. People of all ages lined up outside the triangle lounge, waiting for their turn to make their own teddy bear.
Anxious kids stuffed their bears and soon realized that they needed to be sewn shut. Program Board members suddenly found themselves with a needle and thread in hand during their very first sewing lesson.
"I didn't know I'd be sewing today, but after the first bear it went pretty good," Program Board member Cortney Starks said.
Scheduled to last for two hours, the 150 bears were gone within the first hour. Disappointed late comers were turned down, surprised that the bears had already disappeared.
Program Board President Ashley Talley explained how great it was to be a part of making this weekend a success.
"Working with Residential Life to help build up the SVSU community was very exciting," she said. "It was an honor to be asked to participate and Program Board looks forward to a bigger, better Kids and Sibs Weekend next year."
Saturday evening brought along many more activities. In the Student Center Rotunda, the University Police Department supplied students with free root beer floats. Next to them sat a table of International students. These students worked with Japanese calligraphy and origami.
Student Nick Tereck oversaw the calligraphy and origami table.
"It's a great opportunity for students and siblings to learn about another culture," he said.
The international students continued to write out peoples' names in Japanese and made them different shapes and animals using the art of origami.
Just down the hall in a triangle lounge, Paradigm set up a t-shirt station where kids could take pictures and have it ironed onto a t-shirt that they could bring home with them. These "Ultimate T-Shirts" seemed to be popular as the line snaked out of the lounge and down the hall nearing the C-Store.
"We've done everything there is to do so far today, but my favorite was the laser tag," said Vaida Bing with a huge smile on her face. Standing outside the Multi-purpose Room with her older brother, Spencer Bing, the siblings shared some time together during one of the last events of the evening.
Junior Bobby Awrey cut in, "We've all had such a great time together this weekend with our siblings. Spencer got to bring his little sister and I got to hang out with my little brother Nick. The laser tag was fun, but in our opinion the basketball game was our favorite way to spend the afternoon."
The halls along the C-Store and Student Life were packed with SVSU students and their siblings and friends. Going from station to station, they all seemed to be enjoying themselves, taking advantage of the Cardinal Cage and Student Life arcade games, the ping-pong tables, and the pool tables. Music was blasting from the stage in the Cage as kids were dressing up and starring in their own music videos, which they were able to take home with them.
On Sunday, since most visitors were heading home, there was not much planned. In the morning, there was a Snowman building contest, but other than that, students and their siblings were on their own. There were suggestions that they go ice skating in front of Founders Hall, take a shopping trip to the Fashion Square Mall, or enjoy a walk around campus.
Assistant Director of Residential Life Greg Behe on Saturday reflected on the weekend.
"It went very well," he said. "The weekend was for the children and so that is what it was about. They seemed to have a lot of fun."
