By Isabelle Flener
College for Life hosted a carnival for all to attend on Thursday, April 15th. Students, staff, and faculty were encouraged to staff a table, or attend. Preschool and elementary students were bussed over from local schools to enjoy the carnival.
Roselyn (Rosie) Ellington is the College for Life Program Coordinator for the Center for Access and Accommodations. She oversees the Supported College Transition and College for Life programs.
“We have about 130 students in the College for Life program,” said Ellington. “This was our first carnival, but it has been my goal to plan an inclusive event once a semester with the help of Jared and Student Activities. A carnival just sounded like a lot of fun! We try to come up with creative themes for our events. We also have the Nelson CFL students bussed from Edwardsville to hang out with us on Godfrey campus once a semester.” Ellington said.
The Carnival was held from 11am to 2pm and had a handful of different tables with many fun activities for attendees.
“There was so much going on!” said Ellington. “Chrissie Chapman brought her classes and did a kindness rock painting activity. Elizabeth Grant brought Phi Theta Kappa and played games with the students. Student activities provided the food. We had a Cowboy Critters who brought animals for the petting zoo. Bunkhouse Joe helped Coffee for Life sell Icy Joe’s. Alice Bunjan and the CFL staff helped with various activities. Daniel Nosce was our DJ. Rodney White brought many nursing students who volunteered for various games like ring toss and corn hole, face painting, and balloon darts. It was a great event! We also want to thank the Alton Foundation for their support with this event. We could not have done this without the help of all these wonderful people!” Ellington said.
Many of the College for Life students attended the event and helped with all the different activities and tables. Jailaron Rodgers was one of those students. He has been with the CFL program for about 5 years now.
“I was selling coffee at the Bunkhouse Joe Coffee cart. I enjoyed doing it and had a good time,” said Rodgers. “My favorite part of the carnival was seeing all of the animals especially the baby calves.”
The College for Life program gives people of any age the opportunity to experience college. There are some students who do traditional classes as well, but some who are solely a part of the CFL program.
“College for Life exists to give our students a college experience. An essential component of that experience is being included in college wide activities,” said Ellington. “When we designed the carnival, we did so with inclusivity in mind for all students. If you attended the carnival, you saw that it was such a great representation of the student body at Lewis and Clark.”
“I think it was a beautiful day, and the event was a success!” said Ellington. “I am not sure we will do another carnival, but we will for sure plan another event next semester! Thank you to everyone who came! We will have another event in the fall. More information soon!” Ellington said.
For more information about the College for Life program please contact Rosie Ellington at rellington@lc.edu.
