Residents of a local assisted living center were treated last week to an afternoon of bingo games and culinary delicacies during the first Spring Fling Bingo event hosted by Golden Isles College and Career Academy students.
The students held the event at the Brunswick center not only to engage in community service but also to prepare for an upcoming competition that will test their skills in a wide range of areas.
Numerous students worked together to bring the event to HomeLife on Glynco. Agriculture pathway students created centerpieces from plants grown at the Career Academy. Construction students crafted wooden stands that hold books and glasses to be given away as bingo prizes. And a culinary student at GICCA designed the menu and prepared all the food for the event.
Sixteen GICCA students in the Career Technical Instruction (CTI) program will travel to the Rock Eagle 4-H Center in April for a state competition.
The trip to HomeLife assisted living last week gave the students a chance to practice ahead of the competition. They put the event together as a team and paid close attention to the details, from the fingers foods to the bingo entertainment.
Maysen Ai, a senior at Glynn Academy and student in the culinary arts pathway at GICCA, will bring her culinary creations to the competition next month.
“These are mini-cheesecakes,” she said, showing the bite-sized cakes topped with chocolate-covered strawberries. “There’s graham cracker for the base.”
The event at HomeLife offered Ai her first opportunity to create and prepare her own menu.
“I really enjoyed doing it,” she said. “I enjoyed finding recipes and trying to figure out what would be the best food for all of our guests here.”
Real-world application of skills learned in the classroom is the purpose of the CTI competition in April, said Kristine Hickson, an instructional coach and CTI coordinator for Glynn County Schools.
“We’ll be taking 16 students to Rock Eagle for two nights, and they all will be competing in their area of whatever pathway they’re in,” she said. “They have to go with a portfolio, like a résumé, a cover letter, a list of references and potential job outlooks.
“They present their project in front of a panel of judges, and they’re competing against other CTI students from across the state.”
Students from Glynn County will showcase their skills in engineering, graphic arts, public speaking, welding, automotive services and more during the upcoming contest.
“The whole purpose of the program is to prepare them for work when they leave,” Hickson said.