A dodge ball tournament on Sunday raised money for the UC Davis Children’s Hospital, thanks to a group project assigned in Nick Trujillo’s class, Communication Studies 105.

Trujillo, professor at Sacramento State, uses this particular group assignment every semester to teach his students how to effectively work and communicate in small groups.

Trujillo said students can fulfill the requirements of his group project by making a contribution to a community, city or a country of their choice.

“Most students do volunteer work, a book drive or raise money for some cause,” he said. “I want the students to do something they’re excited about that will make a difference in people’s lives.”

Dip Duck Dodge Donate, a group in Trujillo’s class this semester, organized Sunday’s successful dodge ball tournament, which raised $810.

Carli Fager, junior communication studies major and member of the Dip Duck Dodge and Donate group, said she has enjoyed participating in the group projects because she learned how to solve conflicts with her group members.

“It’s a good class especially because we’re not just told to make up some project and present it, we actually run into real problems and learn how to face them working in a group,” she said.

Fager said the obstacle her group ran across was trying to get in touch with the Sky High Sports, located in Rancho Cordova, to determine whether the center would hold the dodge ball tournament there.

“No one got back to us so we went down to the office and worked with the manager to fit in a date and time to hold the event,” she said.

Fager said this group project has been important for her because she helped benefit the lives of sick children in the community.

“With other classes, I have been told to make a project, but afterwards, I felt I did not make a difference in someone’s life,” she said. “With our project, our group members helped raise money to get children supplies they need to live better lives.”

Gina Ramirez, junior communication studies major and member of the Dip Duck Dodge and Donate group, said she connected with the hospital and found many resources that the children lacked.

“The children are limited on funds and resources at the hospital, but were asking for things such as Play-Doh, glue sticks, Crayola markers, infant raddle and Baby Einstein movies,” she said.

Normally, Trujillo said, a group’s success in its contribution is representative of how effectively group members communicated.

It is now Trujillo’s 20th year teaching Communication Studies 105, and he said he is passionate about his group assignments and helping the community because all people are interconnected, in every community.”This university is part of a community in of itself,” he said. “We don’t live in an isolated bubble.”

Trujillo said he has used community service as an outlet of small group communication for more than three decades. Before Sac State, he said he used this group project at Purdue University, Michigan State and Southern Methodist University.

Trujillo said his passion for community service began thanks to his mom.

“Growing up, my mother did volunteer work, and my first job at Purdue, being in the small town, put me more in touch with the community,” he said.

Vinnie Teresi, junior communication studies major, said he enjoys Trujillo’s class because it is not a typical college course.

“The great thing about Trujillo’s class is that it does not follow the format in most of my classes, where the professor will assign three tests and also assign you to write a few additional essays,” he said.

Teresi said Trujillo’s class is different because the students are able to work outside the classroom, be involved in the community and shed a positive light on Sac State.

“Sac State students are seen by many people in society as a party people – this is the general perception of colleges,” Teresi said. “It’s nice what we’re doing because we’re helping the community by raising money for the better, which helps to break this misconception.”

Ramirez said she is grateful to Trujillo.

“I think it’s great that Trujillo’s is emphasizing community because it gave me the experience to do something I wouldn’t have the time to do on my own,” she said.

John Saelee can be reached at [email protected]