Creating a blog

Two months into what has become a giant collective brainstorm effort, to create and hold a fundraiser to benefit non-profit group Cradles to Crayons, the wheels finally seem to be moving. Myself and a class of about 15 are involved in a media relations class which is striving to to fulfill academic requirements, while meeting social and civic responsibility, without the dull and mundane existence of textbook learning. Our professor Erin D. Vicente has developed a relationship with Cradles to Crayons PR guru Josh Nespoli based around student ran PR campaigns for Cradles to Crayons. Cradles to Crayons saves both time and material while students, in turn, benefit from what Erin calls "real world" experience.



The beautiful thing about this project is; even if ego's are involved, people who need help are getting helped. There are no over zealous goal driven brown noser's trying to weasel their way to the top of the class room, and their are no greedy corporate pigs rubbing their hands in glee because of free labor. The cause is real, and the motivation is genuine.



The road to success has been turbulent, our biggest road block has been the bureaucratic detours higher administration has placed in our way. You would think the people who's paychecks are paid for by students would be helping conquer their challenges instead of being their challenge.

The class has adjusted to the most recent bump in the road and we are at the point where we can really visualize the event coming to life. Everyone in the class has separate duties in the collective effort; people are creating and publishing flyer's: having meetings with food vendors, sending press releases to newspapers, working with locally based companies to receive donations to be raffled at the event, and have been part of the recent solidification of a musical performance by Bostons own DJ MR-REA, amongst other tasks.

I have spent allot of time in a college classroom, and left school for a while to work in the "real world." I have been back in college since the spring of 2007, I am a full time student who works to pay for all the same things my professors do, while going to class; i have my foot in both worlds, and this class is closest a classroom has come to preparing kids/adults for the working world. If other teachers can learn to step away from the chalkboard, throw away the text book and trash PowerPoint, they will get the much needed engagement students consciously and subconsciously thrive on.