On Oct. 5 and 6, ABAC’s Residence Life and Housing hosted Family Weekend, which is a weekend that provides the opportunity for friends and families of students to see where their students live and take part in some of the activities the students take part in throughout the week.
Planning for this year’s Family Weekend began after last year’s Family Weekend. One of the things that changed this year was the student’s families receiving t-shirts, which caused a huge challenge because of people wanting to order shirts after the deadline. This year, the families were given green drawstring bags containing sun glasses, water bottles and a cardholder.
Throughout the weekend the families were able to do many activities. On Friday night, the families had the opportunity to either attend the AET Truck and Tractor Pull or go see the play “Stop, Thief,” which is the first play ever performed by the Baldwin Players. Then, on Saturday morning, there were more activities for the families to attend.
These activities consisted of Dr. Lane’s critters in the lake class, a farm tour and Dr. Marcus Johnson’s talk about cognitive learning. In Dr. Lane’s critters in the lake class, the families were able to talk about the different ecosystems in Lake Baldwin, while gaining the opportunity to help Dr. Lane check traps for turtles. After she checked the traps, Dr. Lane used a metal detector to see if she could find any fish hooks inside the turtles. After Dr. Lane checked the turtles, she allowed the families to help return the turtles to Lake Baldwin.
On the farm tour, the families were able to see and learn about the deer pen, the nature study area and the different research plots. Then, in Dr. Marcus Johnson’s class, the families were able to learn about cognitive learning.
After the classes, the bookstore opened up for the families and lunch was provided at the Dining Hall. Once the families were done with lunch, they had the chance to go to the Georgia Museum of Agriculture.
At the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, the students were able to get in for free while the parents were given tickets at a discounted price. Later that night, the families had the choice of playing bingo, attending “Stop, Thief” or the AET Truck and Tractor Pull. On Sunday, a list of churches was provided to the families and on the bottom of the list it said: “Take your students to lunch and have a safe trip home.”
In the future, ABAC plans to keep the option for families to attend the AET Truck and Tractor Pull or the play on Friday nights. Then, on Saturday, keep the classes, but try to have some of the other schools get involved instead of there only being ag classes. But overall, Family Weekend was a success!
