{"id":1407,"date":"2014-10-15T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=1407"},"modified":"2014-10-15T20:00:12","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T00:00:12","slug":"taking-it-back-to-the-playground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2014\/10\/15\/taking-it-back-to-the-playground\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking it Back to the Playground"},"content":{"rendered":"

By KINSEY HISLE – <\/strong><\/em>COPY CHIEF<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In the 1980s Regan was President, gasoline cost 97 cents a gallon, boom boxes blasted Michael Jackson, and Ferris Buller skipped school. During this time at Centre College, the men of Beta Theta Pi (Beta) and the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa) co-hosted an annual Seesaw-A-Thon to raise money for their philanthropies. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now around 20 years later, Beta and Kappa have brought back this event. Though the cultures of both the world and Centre has changed, the two organizations were eager to make this event from the past a part of their traditions once more as they continue to support their philanthropies. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beta\u2019s philanthropy is Wilderness Trace Child Development Center (WTCDC), which is located in Danville, KY. and provides educational and therapeutic opportunities from children with or without disabilities, ages five and under. Kappa\u2019s philanthropy is the Center for Courageous Kids (CCK), a medical camping facility in Scottville, KY. for children with life threatening illness.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

From Beta\u2019s perspective as a growing chapter, the event was a way to link the past with a hopeful future. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was the time for it,\u201d junior and Beta Theta Pi president Gray Whitsett said. \u201cWe\u2019ve gotten our charter back, we\u2019ve moved in our house, we\u2019ve been able to reestablish so much of what Beta was\u2014it was time to make philanthropy a priority again, and have fun doing it.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Kappa was approached by Beta to once again to co-host the event in their current efforts to support both WTCDC and CCK, and accepted enthusiastically.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"seesaw\"<\/a>
Top: The men of Beta Theta Pi host the 24-hour Seesaw-A-Thon in 1989. Pictured is Centre alumni Andy Chambers and Lee Radford. Above: Beta men and Kappa Kappa Gamma women pose during after the event concluded on Oct. 11.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEveryone in the chapter was excited about hosting a new philanthropy event,\u201d senior president of Kappa Kappa Gamma Jenna Trost said. \u201cI think that everyone was excited to bring the event back to life.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Betas approached me about [hosting the event]. I was on board especially since it is a part of our history. I thought it would be really fun to bring it back,\u201d junior philanthropy chair of Kappa Kappa Gamma Emily Ackemann said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have much information on how they originally did it so we got to plan it our own way.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired by the efforts of their past brothers and sisters, the organizations accepted the challenge of recreating and modernizing the event. One of the large challenges of hosting such an event as a 24 hour Seesaw-A-Thon was building a seesaw. The men of Beta embraced this challenge, pulling support from chapter members and families. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a funny story actually,\u201d Whitsett said. \u201cBryan Wright, Sam Morrow, Jared Thompson, and I drove to Jared\u2019s house back in September. We had enlisted Jared\u2019s stepfather to help us build it. After a full day of sawing, nailing, and drilling, it was complete. Once we got it back, however, some members expressed concerns about its stability. It just so happened that over Family Weekend, another member\u2019s parents were visiting, and his stepfather decided he could make some improvements. What we didn\u2019t realize is that he went home and built another seesaw, which was the one we ended up using. So now we have two seesaws, affectionately named Seesaw Alpha and Seesaw Beta.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the necessary seesaw built, the 24 hour Seesaw-a-Thon was planned to best benefit both philanthropies in a fun way. The event was held from Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. to Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. in the Ewen room of the Campus Center. The seesaw had been originally planned to be placed outside on the lawn in front of the Campus Center, but rain forced it to be relocated. Brother\u2019s Barbeque joined the event to sell dinner from 6 to 10 p.m. with 10 percent of the proceeds being given to Beta and Kappa to add to their philanthropy donations. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to the event, both organizations wrote letters to alum, family, and friends asking for sponsorship and donations for WTCDC and CCK. Other donations came from the Centre community and a website created by the Betas to take donations. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The weekend before the event, the women of Kappa were further inspired to continue their fundraising efforts by a weekend volunteer trip to CCK. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat got the girls really excited,\u201d Ackemann said. \u201cThey saw how the money would really impact kids.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Seesaw-A-Thon was a success for both Beta and Kappa as they were able to give substantial support to both WTCDC and CCK. With donations still coming in, the organizations have currently raised around $7,000. Kappa was able to achieve its goal of raising enough money to send 3 kids to camp for week long sessions. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to successfully fundraising for WTCDC and CCK, 24 hours of seesawing was fun for all men and women who participated. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of the event was my actual shift on the see-saw,\u201d Trost said. \u201cEach Kappa had a 30 minute shift on the seesaw. It was great to get to know the Beta that I see-sawed with.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen two people have to seesaw for 30 minutes to an hour in the middle of the night, it\u2019s almost guaranteed that you\u2019ll be friends by the end of it,\u201d junior philanthropy chair Bryan Wright said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The last shift of the event was a memorable moment as some members of the organizations rejoined to celebrate their success. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were cramped into the Campus Center, teeter-tottering our way to victory, and we played \u2018Closing Time\u2019 during the last couple of minutes,\u201d Wright said. \u201cWe finished at 6, and a rush of excitement ran through me because we had successfully followed through with the event, in spite of the hurdles. More importantly, I was excited to see so many great people rallying around a worthwhile cause.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Seesaw-A-Thon\u2019s revival and success has motivated both organizations to continue to host the event in the future, improving it along the way in constant efforts to support their philanthropies. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe absolutely want to do it again next year with Kappa. Something I feel strongly about is capitalizing on the publicity that a giant seesaw garners. I want Wilderness Trace and CCK to give us some pamphlets, advertisements, and contact information so we can spread that during the event. I don\u2019t want it to be about Beta and Kappa, I want it to be about the philanthropies,\u201d Whitsett said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Other hopes for the Seesaw-A-Thon involve more campus involvement. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll likely do it earlier in the fall and hope for better weather. We\u2019ll also strive to make it more accessible to the student body. This may mean having more food vendors and auxiliary activities next to the seesaw,\u201d Wright said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Seesaw-A-Thon is able to merge the past and future together in efforts to raise awareness to support the important causes of WTCDC and CCK, and foster friendships in the Centre community. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By KINSEY HISLE – COPY CHIEF In the 1980s Regan was President, gasoline cost 97 cents a gallon, boom boxes blasted Michael Jackson, and Ferris Buller skipped school. During this time at Centre College, the men of Beta Theta Pi (Beta) and the women of Kappa Kappa Gamma (Kappa) co-hosted an annual Seesaw-A-Thon to raise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}