WHAT DO THE BIG RED TRUCK, "THE APPRENTICE," AND $5 HAVE IN COMMON? EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Experiential learning and corporate citizenship combine to produce creative assignments that link students with the local community, as part of Public Relations education.. The question: “What do The Big Red Truck, ‘The Apprentice’ and $5 have in common?” The answer: “Experiential learning!” Working with the local fire department, students gained understanding of firefighters’ service, and created public communication plans, to be implemented for the community. Riding on “The Big Red Truck” was part of the research, facilitating greater understanding of the ‘client.’ Tackling a campaign for small business resulted in a second project, based loosely on Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice;” however, the disclaimer was issued: “No one will be fired!” To assist ‘mom & pop’ shops, groups met the ‘client,’ and competed to provide plans for publicity, promotion and special events. As students flipped through the course syllabi, on the first day of class, they discovered a "play-money $5 bill” attached.. The explanation followed: Students were to create a plan, to use $5---which the professor would exchange for the "play-money"---to raise money to benefit a non-profit of their choice.. To make students aware of the need to participate in efforts to benefit non-profits, and to become good corporate citizens, the project was designed to spark creativity and "grow the money," to contribute to a worthy cause.