Posted Friday, March 20, 2020 @ 5:19 PM Since 2012, Safe Knight Week has annually sought to promote safety and wellness to ensure that students understand how they can be safe during Spring Break. Over the years, the week has grown to draw in a larger scale of students and campus partners. Some of the many departments that participate in Safe Knight Week include Recreation and Wellness Center, Student Care Services, Student Government, Counseling and Psychological Services, Environment Health & Safety, Office of Institutional Equity, Student Health Services, UCF Police Department, and Wellness and Health Promotion Services. Each day of Safe Knight Week focuses on a particular topic that promotes safety and wellness. These topics include sun safety, sexual health, nutrition, injury prevention, and mental health. With these topics, students are engaging in information, as well as instructional and hands-on components. For example, at the Safe Knight Week 2020 Carnival (which was the kick-off event), students had the opportunity to learn how to sew a button, properly wash hands, donate blood and techniques of CPR. Additionally, there were inflatables and a slow bike race. Students were able to also participate in programs such as a Let’s Be Clear Dessert Party that addressed sex and gender-based discrimination, a Shield Yourself Pool Party that encouraged students to protect their skin while having fun in the sun, and a Trivia Knight on healthy relationships and campus safety. “The importance of these events is not merely that students enjoy these new and exciting events, but also that they actually learn something,” said Wellness and Health Promotion Services Assistant Director, Stephanie Spies. “They learn specific skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.” With each year bringing in more students and campus partners, Safe Knight Week constantly evolves to meet with popular trends and capacity. Spies described that much of the process for creating Safe Knight Week includes receiving student feedback and watching trends to ensure that themes and events work well with the student body. For example, Safe Knight Week 2020 integrated TikTok, the social media platform, as part of the program. In addition to the theme, TikTok was incorporated into its logo, and a TikTok video was posted on UCF’s TikTok account about the event. To create these popular and high caliber events, Spies explained that they are supported greatly by the Parent and Family Fund Grant. “We are incredibly appreciative to receive funding from the Parent and Family Fund Grant because without it we would not be able to hold such great events at such a large capacity,” Spies said. Back