SACtacular: Oct. 20, 2017.
Sloth and other animals provided entertainment and education at the annual event.
By Sarah Centeno
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
About, 5,000 students, employees and community members strolled through this campus Oct 20. sampling various types of food, playing games, listening to live bands and learning about animals.
Lauren Sjulin, coordinator for former student and alumni outreach, brought her son and daughter to enjoy the children’s activities at the annual SACtacular.
“The purpose of the event is to give back to the community and have an event for the people near SAC and activities for the children. All of the booths are free. It’s a fun and safe event to take your children to,” Sjulin said.
Henna tattoos, face painting, balloon houses, games, caricature drawings and a live band were a few of the activities.
Zoomagination also participated this year, bringing Sienna, a 12-year-old sloth, for the community to see.
Zoomagination provides the community with a hands-on learning experience with the animals.
“We’ve been coming for five years. It’s always been an awesome sidewalk event,” Robert Trejo, owner of Zoomagination, said,
Wildlife educator Ayesha Sosa said, “Everyone is so interested in the animals and they are actually listening to what we are educating them about. It’s a wonderful event for fun but also learning.”
Kate Price, education sophomore, brought her 4-year-old son to the event and said they enjoyed seeing the Zoomagination performance.
“We got to see all the different animals, animals you wouldn’t normally get to see up close,” Price said.
Clubs and organizations were running booths to raise money by selling corn in a cup, frito pies, macaroni and cheese, raspas and other treats.
The women’s basketball team was selling corn in a cup.
“We are participating to raise funds and also get students involved in the women’s basketball team,” Daniella Aguirre, business administration sophomore, said.
While waiting in line for the inflatable slide, psychology freshman, Melanie Garcia said her family was having a great time.
“The kid’s favorite part has been the slide. We will definitely be coming back next year,” Garcia said.
Miss San Antonio Ashley Sneed and Miss Bexar County’s Ooutstanding Teen, Elaina McCoulskey, also attended the event.
“The people are so fun here and friendly,” Sneed said. “I love the environment and the education. San Antonio College gives great opportunities for students that want to get a higher level of education.”
Elaina McCoulskey said, “ I have really enjoyed going to all the booths, and also seeing all the programs SAC has to offer is really cool. This is definitely on my list for future colleges.”
Psychology sophomore Nicholas Delaunay and others on the college cheerleading team said the cheer team was having a blast.
“We have been walking around the campus with the Gnome Ranger. We are giving out wristbands and enjoying school spirit. Its all about school spirit today at SAC,” Delaunay said.
The Gnome Ranger serves as SAC’s spirit figure. As this college’s mascot, the Gnome Ranger, whose human identity is unknown, wears an oversized red hat, brown vest and brown pants.
His main purpose is to spread school spirit and to unite the college community, according to this college’s website.
