(NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Hands on learning is an important part of Aimee Vlachos' sports management class at UNE. This Friday, she's putting her students to work on the ice.
It's a USM - UNE Rivalry night, a concept born in Vlachos' classroom and developed by her students this semester. Vlachos approached Mariners VP Adam Goldberg last year to see if her class could pitch and promote a game night theme during the teams' inagural season. He gave the thumbs up, and after a semester's worth of work, the students are ready to present their Rivalry Night project to Mariners fans.
"They did the presentation to me a few weeks ago and I was just blown away," says Goldberg. "They've done all of these different things that I've learned along the way, and they're still in school. I was really impressed."
While the team looks for its fourth straight win and eighth win this month, students will be gaining real world work experience. They'll run in-game promotions and interact with fans -- all things they can add to their resumes.
"I think it does connect to real life situations, having to promote an event and get people in those seats," says Alex Huff, UNE Class of 2020. "That's the hardest part."
"It's something that I know a lot of us haven't been able to do yet so it's very cool to work with a team that has to do this week in and week out," says fellow student Dylan Jones.
The Mariners play their last game in November on Friday the 30th. The puck drops at 7:15 p.m.