Beyond the Classroom Challenge
How does the Beyond the Classroom Challenge work?
- Sign up to receive a weekly list of the best fun, free events on campus and in the community.
- Complete the Beyond the Classroom Challenge in one of two ways:
- Fully participate and reflect on 10 events
- Have completed a designated experience the prior semester, then fully participate and reflect on five events.
- Complete a post-challenge reflection survey and turn in a photo.
Weekly Events List - Listed Below
The Beyond the Classroom Challenge is a way for students to jump into a broad variety of FREE campus and community events, learning more about UTC, Chattanooga, and themselves—all based on their own schedules and interests. Each event will help students get to know UTC and Chattanooga and learn where to get more involved.
By completing the challenge, students can receive the Beyond the Classroom Challenge Award, which includes a pictorial award signed by UTC's Chancellor, Steve Angle, a celebratory dinner with your fellow award winners, priority registration during the registration period of the following semester and all points accumulate toward being recognized as a ThinkAchieve Graduate.
Beyond the Classroom Challenge
Weekly Events for 10/13-10/19
In-Person/Online Events
Monday, October 13
Fall Break!
Learn and Play Disc Golf
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Greenway Farms
Disc golf is one of the easiest activities to get you into the outdoors! Its a walk in the woods while playing a very fun and social game. Start with the Learn and Play Disc Golf class, where Outdoor Chattanooga’s instructors provide an instructional class to show you the rules, equipment, and essential techniques to get you started! With over a dozen courses in the Chattanooga area there are plenty of places to engage your game. We aim to provide the beginner the confidence and resources to connect further with the area's disc golf community. This introductory class provides the instruction and equipment and meets at various locations. Appropriate for ages 10 and up. Warning, may be habit forming. Pre-registration is requested so we can share important info; however, walk up is available until capacity is filled. Learn more here.
Volunteer Orientation
5:00pm - 6:30pm
Philip Grymes Outdoor Chattanooga Center
Curious about how you can get involved and make a difference? Join Outdoor Chattanooga for our Volunteer Orientation! This event is designed to introduce new and returning volunteers to upcoming opportunities, from event support and outdoor education to behind-the-scenes projects. Get all the information you need to start volunteering with us. Come discover how you can contribute your skills and passion to our mission! Learn more here.
Tuesday, October 14
Truly Fall Break-no events!
Wednesday, October 15
Urban Art Fest! - Bench Painting
12:00 pm – 5:00 pm (Minimum Committment: 1 hour, but you will want to stay longer!)
Chamberlain Field
Looking to express your creative outlet? Want to showcase your artistry? Don't have much artistic talent but just want to have some fun? Join UTC S3 & The Art Collective for music and painting on Chamberlain for our second Urban Art Bench Painting Fest! Last year was a smash hit so we are bringing it back! All students are welcome to join and get in on the fun anytime from 12pm - 5pm Wednesday October 15th. Bring your ideas and your paint brushes or use the paint and brushes that are provided. Students will be able to paint whatever they like on benches which will then be displayed at UTC Mocs Express bus stops for everyone to use while waiting for the bus, making this event both fun and impactful! RSVP IS HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. Click here to RSVP and learn more.
Thursday, October 16
Write & Chatt
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Adelle’s Creperie, 400 East Main St
Write & Chatt is a supportive community of writers and aspiring writers who come together to pursue the art and craft of writing. No experience necessary. We will write, share, offer feedback, and talk about writing. Participants are welcome to bring writings of any kind to share or follow one of our themes! This week’s theme is Ghost Tales. Pencils and paper provided! Learn more here.
Vision + Verse
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
The Hunter Museum
Chattanooga creatives Christopher Shaw, Karla Bivens, and Krantszy Boursiquot present a gallery experience on Black women as muses and visionaries. This event is free and open to the public. Silver Linings: Celebrating the Spelman Art Collection is organized by the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia. Curated by Liz Andrews and Karen Comer Lowe with initial contributions from Anne Collins Smith. Learn more here.
Stretch Your Mind: Poetry Meets Yoga Sessions
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
The Edney- Floor Five, 1100 Market Street
Beginner-friendly desk-and-chair yoga, mixed with poetry writing prompts. No mat or writing experience needed. Stretch Your Mind will be geared towards people who are new to yoga, and those who spend a majority of their days sitting at a desk. Yoga Instructor, Kate Landers will lead participants through a sequence designed to ease tension in the neck, shoulders, lower back, wrists, hips - everywhere that aches after a long day of typing on a keyboard. All exercises will be performed while sitting in a chair or standing while using a table as optional support. There will not be any floorwork, so no mat is required. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable, stretchy clothing. The yoga sequences will be split into two 20-minute practices, and in between there will be a poetry writing session. Meet on the 5th floor of the Edney Building. Learn more here.
Fresh Out the Shoebox Interactive Poetry Session
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
The Edney- Floor Five, 1100 Market Street
Free, open to readers, writers, and listeners of poetry of all ages. Located on the 5th floor of the Edney building. Interactive poetry allows for a conversation between the poet and the audience. Come prepared to make new friends and new connections. Come and BE HEARD! Learn more here.
Friday, October 17
Scenic City Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
7:00 PM
Greenway Farms, Sniteman Cabin
Scenic City Shakespeare will present special performances of Shakespeare's beloved comedy Twelfth Night! This production marks a new partnership between Scenic City Shakespeare and Barking Legs Theatre. Concessions will be available inside the theatre lobby during the performance. Friday and Saturday performances take place at Historic Sniteman Cabin within Greenway Farms, beginning at 7pm. Reserve your free ticket here. Note: You do not have to leave a donation to reserve your ticket.
Art-A-Nooga
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Stove Works
A variety hour where presenters are given 7 minutes to do anything they want! Each Art-A-Nooga is completely unique, and we never know what’s going to happen. Previous presentations have featured artist talks, experimental videos, movie reviews, dance, live jazz, live songwriting, collaborative storytelling, science experiments, travel photos, performance art, arm wrestling, cryptids, poetry reading, resource sharing, tutorials, bathroom renovation, dogs, and terrible cakes. That’s just to name a few! It’s all-out anything-goes at Art-A-Nooga Tonight! Learn more here.
Mike Wiley presents, Dar He: The Story of Emmett Till
7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine St
Acclaimed NC-based playwright and actor Mike Wiley brings African American history to life through his award-winning documentary theatre. In DAR HE, Wiley portrays every character in the story of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Chicago youth whose 1955 lynching in Mississippi shocked the nation. The play follows the murder, trial, and confession of the accused men, offering a powerful look at a pivotal moment in civil rights history. Adapted into a feature film that has earned more than 40 international awards, DAR HE has been performed for audiences across the U.S., including Till’s family members. Learn more here. BTC will cover the ticket cost for students that sign up. To reserve your spot, please email us back by 1 PM on Wednesday (10/15). Limited slots available.
Saturday, October 18
TN River Kayaking
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
UTC Outdoors
Treat yourself by coming with us on a leisurely paddle down the Tennessee River! Give yourself a break from studying and enjoy spending the day relaxing on the water and meeting new friends! Pre-registration for this event is required. Please email [email protected] to get a voucher for this event. Please note that space is limited, if you receive a voucher we expect you to attend. If you do not attend we may not give you a voucher in the future.
Mirror in the Sky: A Kite-Making Workshop with Beck Haberstroh
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Stove Works
Join Artist-in-Residence beck haberstroh in the classroom for a Free Workshop! In this workshop, we will make simple diamond kites using mylar, a lightweight and reflective material. Our mylar kites will act as lofi mirrors in the sky, revealing new perspectives on ourselves and our environment. We will close our workshop by attempting a flight together on Stove Works lawn, pending wind conditions. Learn more here.
WTCI PBS Presents “The American Revolution” Preview
4:00pm - 6:00pm
Chattanoga Public Library
History lovers, join us on Saturday, October 18th, for a special preview screening of the forthcoming Ken Burns documentary “The American Revolution,” presented by WTCI PBS. The much-anticipated series, which has been in production for eight years, was directed and produced by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt and written by long-time collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward. The filmmakers and PBS scheduled the broadcast for 2025, the 250th anniversary of the start of the war, which began in the spring of 1775, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence. This screening will be presented live in-person in the 1st Floor Auditorium at the Downtown Library. RSVP and learn more here.
Scenic City Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night
7:00 PM
Greenway Farms, Sniteman Cabin
Scenic City Shakespeare will present special performances of Shakespeare's beloved comedy Twelfth Night! This production marks a new partnership between Scenic City Shakespeare and Barking Legs Theatre. Concessions will be available inside the theatre lobby during the performance. Friday and Saturday performances take place at Historic Sniteman Cabin within Greenway Farms, beginning at 7pm. Reserve your free ticket here. Note: You do not have to leave a donation to reserve your ticket.
Library Events
Thursday, October 16
Free Workshop: Writing with Sources: Quoting, Paraphrasing, Summarizing
11:00 am – 11:45 am
Are you working on a large research paper or project? Do you want to learn how to maximize your use of secondary sources? Then this workshop is for you! We will discuss and get practice with integrating sources into your own work and learn best practices for quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing sources. RSVP here.
Free Workshop: File Management for People Whose Computers Hate Them
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Online
Do you keep losing files that you need for your projects? Does it take you hours flipping through photos that all start with IMG_whatever? Are half of the files in your Google Drive all called "Final Paper," "FinalFinalPaper," "FinalPaper2" or "Document?" This workshop will help you get organized and develop a system to keep track of your stuff. Imagine the time you'll have when you don't have to waste it looking for things! RSVP here.
Free Workshop: Citing and Documentation
2:00 pm – 2:45 pm
Library Room 205
This workshop gets into the nuts and bolts of creating citations in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles, addressing questions such as: Which style should you choose? What information do you need to create a citation? Where do you find things like the author, the publisher, or the DOI? RSVP here.
Free Workshop: Excel for Creatives
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Online
Are you a starving artist or aspiring small business owner wanting to know how much of your inventory you would have to sell to make rent? Or perhaps you're an up-and-coming musician or vacation planner who wants to keep track of all the gear that keeps getting left behind. Come to this outside-the-box workshop to learn how creative professionals manage their time and inventory with Excel! RSVP here.