Students looking for a little relief as final exams approach can stop by the Lowman Student Center Mall Area for “Apple Days” hosted by the Sam Houston State University Parents’ Association at 8:30 a.m. on May 5-6.
The officers and volunteers of the SHSUPA will be handing out free Scantrons, candy, and red and green apples, to offer support for students, faculty and staff before final exams.
The free items will be distributed each morning until supplies run out and students are invited to come out on both days.
“We know how stressful final exams can be, so we like to show our support to the entire student body and hope they each do well on their tests and final projects,” Kelly Clements, president of the SHSUPA said.
Mary Ellen Sims, assistant dean of students and advisor to the SHSUPA, said “Apple Days” began at SHSU about 10 years ago in an effort to support students as they get ready for finals.
“The founders of the Parents’ Association got together and decided they wanted to do something for students as finals start approaching, and they came up with the idea to pass out apples so that is what they do,” Sims said.
“The Parents’ Association wanted to help and this was looking at different ways to do it and they thought coming up here and giving out (free items) was a good way to support the students,” she said.
Sims said SHSU faculty and staff are not forgotten on “Apple Days” and faculty and staff are also offered free apples and candy if they stop by the LSC Mall Area.
“We also make a point, if we see a professor or a staff member, we always give them (products) too because we know they have had a long hard semester also,” she said. “There is no problem giving everything out and they go pretty quickly. As you can imagine Scantrons go very quickly.”
Each semester the Parents’ Association hosts “Apple Days” for two days during a semester, handing out 1,200 apples, hundreds of candy bars and 5,000 Scantrons to students.
“The current group of officers of the Parents’ Association decided to expand it to include candy,” Sims said. “This is the second year they have given out candy and this of course is very popular, and then the Scantrons started about five years ago.”
The “Apple Days” program is unique to SHSU and gives parents a chance to show their encouragement and support for the students at the university.
“It is really fun to do and I think that is why they like to do it,” Sims said. “We have enough people close by that they can make the trip in to do (the ‘Apple Days’) and of course they are parents of students so they enjoy getting to see their own students as well.”
The Parents’ Association is an organization of SHSU parents who support students through awarding scholarships and hosting special events.
Parents, guardians and families of SHSU students can join the SHSUPA not only to support students, but also to be informed about campus issues, events and news.
For more information about SHSUPA contact Clements at (903) 581-5224 or via e-mail at [email protected] or Sims at (936) 294-3026 or through e-mail at [email protected].
“We want to wish them all the best,” Sims said. “We wish them a successful close to this semester whether it is working on a project or getting moved out of their room and back to where they are going for the summer or of course doing well on their finals so they will have a successful completion of the semester.”
