UNC Greensboro

As a leader, you don’t always have to conform to structures. You can shape them. You can change systems.

UNCG undergraduate student Bethany Allen always loved working with children. The Community and Therapeutic Recreation major recently found a calling working with fifth-graders at Jones Elementary School in Greensboro for a project with her HHS Student Leadership Program class.

At UNC Greensboro, many students land here because of athletics. Some are offered scholarships, while others choose UNCG because they can walk-on to a team and continue to play a sport they love.

The recreation and parks management major is perfect for students who want to promote wellness. “Our lens is studying and delivering recreation services through a developmental and health-oriented approach to create a positive quality of life,” says Department Chair Benjamin Hickerson.

The room was originally meant to be a temporary space in the Center for Community Engaged Design – an interdisciplinary research center through IARc that focuses on research and design of both built and natural environments. But when the Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation (CTR) said they had an empty office in Ferguson for the sensory room, another use for the space opened as well – teaching.

A music festival is a big investment for a city. Greensboro spends a quarter of a million dollars in cash and in-kind services at its annual North Carolina Folk Festival. City officials and sponsors – which include UNC Greensboro – all want to know that a big undertaking is worth the money, the manpower, and the time.

“The hiking program continues to be a welcome part of my social life. This is just a wonderful group of supportive friends,” says Nancy Ryckman ‘82 MEd, active member of UNC Greensboro’s hiking group Celebrate the Trail to Recovery (CTR). 

“Greensboro feels like home,” says alumnus Phil Fleischmann ’05 M.S., who recently returned to Greensboro in his new role as the City of Greensboro Parks and Recreation Director. “I’ve spent most of my adult life here, and I value the diversity of our city and the variety of available opportunities.”