M e r e d i t h
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Students Win Design Competition, Participate in Habitat Project By Melyssa Allen
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eredith seniors earned first and third place and two Honorable Mentions in the Otto Zenke Competition, sponsored by the Carolinas Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (CCASID). Mary Rose won first place. She received $1,000 and the Meredith College Interior Design program received a matching $1,000. Rose is senior graphic designer in the Meredith Department of Marketing. Emily Cobb won third place and received a $500 cash prize. Allison van den Berg and Molly Timberlake received honorable mentions for their projects. The annual Otto Zenke student competition is open to all college and university Interior Design programs with Student Chapters of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) in North and South Carolina. Martha Burpitt, professor of human Meredith interior design students created decoraenvironmental sciences, assigned the Otto tive screens for a Habitat for Humanity project. Zenke competition project to her senior level interior design class; four projects that met all Another group of Meredith interior design students worked with local designer aspects of the problem statement were then Edward Walker, known for his appearances submitted to the competition.
on TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” to promote Habitat for Humanity’s Wake County ReStore. The students and Walker repurposed bi-fold doors from the Habitat Wake ReStore into headboards, room dividers and decorative screens. Their work was displayed at the Southern Ideal Home Show in April. Meredith participants were Breanne Lutz, Kelsey Davis, Victoria Benbassat, Nancy Roscigno, Karen Caira, Caroline Ashworth, Kaitlin Williams, Susan McLain, Kathryn Trogdon, Samantha Perry and Kristen Dee. The students are members of Meredith’s student chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Associate Professor Jane Crowley is Meredith’s ASID chapter advisor. “The students learned how interesting and diverse the solutions were to re-purposing an interior building component,” Crowley said. “The process was a beneficial hands-on, three dimensional project, perfect for inclusion in their portfolios.” For more on Meredith’s interior design program, visit www.meredith.edu/hes/ interiordesign.
Faculty Member Assists with Grant to Close Achievement Gap By Melyssa Allen
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five-year, $1.25 million grant received by Durham Public Schools (DPS) and the Durham Association of Educators (DAE) has a Meredith College connection. Betty Davidson, a member of the biological sciences faculty, served on the UNCChapel Hill educational leadership research group that helped prepare the grant proposal. Davidson co-authored the concept paper upon which the grant proposal was based. DPS Superintendent Carl Harris, along with other DPS and DAE officials, honored the UNC-CH authors during a formal dinner in December. The concept paper presents data on achievement by both gender and ethnicity. The paper states that “overwhelmingly, the
data presented shows that gaps between males and females exist across the board, and that gaps between African American males and other sub-groups are omnipresent … the sheer fact that fully half of all DPS students are African American and 27% of the DPS student population is African American male justifies the focus on this particular group of students.” Education is a topic in which Davidson has much experience. She is a former Orange County School Board member, a teacher for 20 years, and at Meredith, she is the director of comprehensive science licensure and the coordinator of the introductory biology program. The research found that the necessary elements for success in closing the achieve-
ment gap are effective leadership, exemplary instruction and engaged students “who believe in the value of school.” The concept paper presented several options, including support programs, new course content and partnerships with students’ families and Durham community members. The paper further states, “We know too, that for substantial change, DPS (and the state and national decision makers too) will need to lead communities to re-think deep societal patterns.” Now that the grant has been received, Davidson may join the leadership team as they create a roadmap for the next five years. “This is an effort we’re all very passionate about; it is a call to action we take very seriously and I hope to be a part of the solution,” Davidson said. M er edi t h M ag az i n e / S um m er 2 010 /
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