Take Your Child to Work Day brings curiosity, connection and community to Rowan University

April 23 marked the return of Rowan University’s Take Your Child to Work Day—and its biggest one yet. Organized by the Employee Parents Resource Community and the Sense of Community and Connection Subcommittee for the University Wellness Strategic Planning Task Force with support from The Center for Well-Being, the event was campus-wide and built for employees with children ages 4–17. TYCTWD gave youth participants the chance to explore campus, learn about a wide range of careers and see firsthand how Rowan employees do work that supports students and strengthens the broader community. Interest in the program was so strong that all activities requiring registration filled in advance.

Throughout the day, families rolled up their sleeves to engage in activities spanning science, athletics, wellness and the arts. Children mixed and stretched custom slime while learning about chemistry, explored DNA extraction using strawberries, met the Prof mascot and took part in games designed to highlight teamwork and recreation careers.

As families moved from the kick-off gathering in Pfleeger Concert Hall to activity stations across Rowan’s Glassboro campus, their excitement was unmistakable. Amid the hustle and bustle, one child summed up the mood perfectly by calling out, “I want to see doggies!” That enthusiasm found a happy destination in Business Hall at the therapy dog visitation station—a popular stop during Take Your Child to Work Day (TYCTWD).

As children and parents filed in for their registered time slot, the sound of barking filled the room—but not from the therapy dogs themselves. Instead, it came from volunteer Jack Don’s ringtone, eliciting a chuckle from the crowd. Don brought therapy dogs Rex and Cinder with him to represent Shreiber Family Pet Therapy Program at Rowan University.

“Everyone has their own reason for petting the dog,” Don said, explaining that he and Rex have completed more than 420 visits together at locations ranging from elementary schools to the airport. From toddlers to seniors—“age three to 93,” as he put it—people are drawn to the dogs’ calming presence. “Their job is to be petted,” Don said. “They bring a lot of relief to people. It lowers the temperature in the room.”

One of the event’s chief organizers, Lindsay Johnson, Ed.D., assistant director for well‑being, said hosting TYCTWD as a coordinated, university-wide event was an intentional effort to strengthen connection and well-being among Rowan employees and their families. “We know that sense of connection is essential for overall well-being, and while we focus on that a lot for students, we find it important to do the same for employees,” she said.

Johnson worked alongside other University staff to make the day happen, including Kevin George, director of campus recreation, and Brittany Auleta, assistant director for well‑being programming and communication.

But for Johnson, the day also carried deep personal meaning and was inspired in part by the late Jillian Threadgill, Psy.D., former associate director of counseling and psychological services, who previously organized Take Your Child to Work Day events within the Wellness Center. “I thought of her in every committee meeting and with every email we sent,” Johnson said. “She was a champion for parents, for mothers and especially for working families. Jillian would have loved this day.”

The pet therapy visit was just one of more than 20 hands-on activities offered during Take Your Child to Work Day. Families could also sign up for immersive experiences like a show at Edelman Planetarium or a guided tour of the Rowan Arboretum & Gardens led by its director, Sara Wright, Ph.D. While Wright frequently leads tours for students and community members, she tailored these TYCTWD tours specifically for a younger audience. She focused on trees that invited interaction—those with pine cones, seeds, flowers and leaves to see, touch and smell—while centering her lessons on how trees help people by producing oxygen, providing shade and bearing fruit.

Among the stops, Wright chose two trees in particular for their uniqueness on campus. Located just outside of Edelman Planetarium, the “Moon Tree” is a young sweetgum grown from a seed that flew through space on the first Artemis mission back in 2022. And hidden away in a small grotto beside Wilson Hall was the China fir, an invasive, but slow-growing tree—the only one of its species on campus.

“If there’s a story or a name to it, people will care more. We want to teach them to care about the environment while they’re still young,” Wright said.

Organizers said the strong turnout highlighted a clear desire for more family-centered events at Rowan, with more than 250 parents and nearly 400 children registering for TYCTWD. “The number of parents, children and campus partners who signed up really exceeded our expectations,” Johnson said. The campus‑wide effort underscored Rowan’s focus on meaningfully showing up for its community, and plans are already underway to bring the event back again next year, with expanded activity offerings and more partners.