Students gathered in the Center for Student Innovation Thursday for a Thanksgiving craft event.

Anyone attending needed a panther card to get in and to also sign up for a chance to win $20 in dining dollars.

Inside of the center, there were a variety of stations such as making scarecrows out of sticks, making turkeys with Oreos and even making origami sculptures out of ripped book pages.

Snacks were provided for everyone that attended along with slips of paper with a marker. Students had to write what they were grateful for and chain it on to each other. 

Christopher Redman, business management major and president of the library ambassadors for Booth, said he was pleased seeing students come to these events they planned. 

“I feel like every event we planned is successful,” Redman said. “We put the hard work and dedication into it.” 

Moving on to the crafts, students were creating different types of art, especially origami with pages from a book. History education major Nicolette Reed was there sculpting a turkey. It was something different to do, according to her.

“I’ve never done anything like this, most of my crafting consists of baking and helping my grandmother paint things,” Reed said. “I guarantee you when I take this home, my grandma is going to ask me how I made it and would consists of doing it together.” 

There was also a table where students could create a turkey treat by using just Oreo cookies for the body, candy corn for the tail, chocolate chips for the beak and candy eyes for the eyes.  

Amy Odwarka was there monitoring the event. She is a first-year experience / student success librarian at Booth Library. 

Odwarka said that although she is considered staff for the lab, she does not run these events but markets them instead.  

“The student advisory team and us would meet once a week,” she said. “They will brainstorm and come up with ideas. I’m the person that would figure out how will their idea go to reality.” 

She then went on to explain her main role.  

“If there are things in the library that are hoping to gain information about or needing a student perspective, then I am the person to go between student advisory team, the dean and the library,” she said. 

The Booth Library is known for hosting events like study sessions and 3D printing workshops. Raffle prizes and other goodies would be included in these types of events as well. These events are educational, giving students tips about the library and offering resources.  

The event brought many people together, along with their creative minds, to make art.  

Koria Downs can be reached at at 581-2812 or at kdowns@eiu.edu.