California State University, Northridge recreation management classmates stand with their professor Aimee Haber, third from the right. Photo by David Hawkins.

As the leaves turn brown, California State University, Northridge recreation management students are working hard to create a colorful event for families attending this year’s Calabasas Pumpkin Festival.

Students in Aimee Haber’s recreation and tourism management class have been working for weeks on an activity that will include all ages at the festival. Families can navigate a haunted pumpkin patch, play “cauldron croquet” and then venture through an obstacle course.

Haber, who works for the city of Calabasas and graduated from CSUN in 1994 with a degree in recreation management, said the collaboration is a great way for students to get involved in a team project that will benefit families attending the festival.

“The students have created a joint play session with the potential to build a stronger family connection,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder.”

Students in a CSUN recreation management class work on an obstacle course for families attending the Calabasas Pumpkin Festival. They use a map of the Juan Bautista de Anza Park to adjust where they can place their obstacles for the activity. Photo by David Hawkins.

Recreation and tourism management major Andrea Surmeier said she is glad the class gets to work on a project with real results.

“I like that this is a class project, because most of the time, these classes are just a one-person project for the semester,” she said. “This is a more realistic experience to what we’ll be doing after we graduate.”

Haber said she believes having a team-based project helps bring classmates closer.

“I strongly believe that a sense of community and connection is created through shared experiences,” Haber added. “The students get to fill a hole that was at this festival, which was having an activity that crossed ages.”

The Calabasas Pumpkin Festival is scheduled to take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, and Sunday, Oct. 18, at Juan Bautista de Anza Park.  For more information on the festival, visit http://www.calabasaspumpkinfestival.com.

Calabasas Pumpkin Festival, community building, obstacle course, recreation management, student projects