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F E ATU RE S
PRIZE
Student projects engage core values, community
Continued from page I
Ourselves in Greensboro;
Guilford's Student-Organized
Alternative Fall Break Trip" —
at GUS.
Kim Yarbray, project and
communication manager for the
Center for Principled Problem
Solving, said that the GUS
Challenge is the culmination of
months of work. Students sub
mitted proposals for the chal
lenge in the fall of 2010, but one
group started working earlier.
"We started our project in the
fall of 2009," said senior Amelia
McLaughlin. "We had to do a
project involving the core val
ues for our class, and we came
up with 'Access Everywhere.'
Then we were all really invest
ed in this project, and we just
couldn't stop working on it."
"Access Everywhere" brings
attention to the fact that at
Guilford, many locations are
not accessible to those with dis
abilities.
McLaughlin and fellow
group members junior Darius
Verdell and senior Reid Perkins
sought to both raise awareness
and offer solutions to the prob
lem.
"Last spring we presented
at GUS and a couple other
places, and in the fall we had
'Access Everywhere Week,"'
said Perkins. "In our presenta
tions, we laid out some things
that needed to change to make
Guilford more accessible."
The group realized that the
400 people at Guilford with reg
istered disabilities are at a dis
advantage, with issues includ
ing limited access to many cam
pus buildings.
Through their -project
and presentations, Perkins,
McLaughlin, and Verdell are
working to encourage change
at Guilford.
"Rooting Ourselves in
Greensboro" has also imple
mented change in the great
er Greensboro community.
Alyzza Callahan '10, seniors
Chesapeake First and Courtney
Mandeville, and junior Hannah
Swenson, planned a week-
long exploration of service in
Greensboro for fall break 2010.
"We started out hoping to
organize a sustainability-
themed conference to reach out
to the Greensboro communi
ty and incorporate this year's
theme of sustainability," said
First. "That turned out to be
bigger in scale than what we
could reasonably handle, so we
decided to keep it simple."
The group ended up with an
alternative fall break experience
that addressed the question,
"what does service look like in
Greensboro?" A conglomeration
of traditional. Early College,
and CCE students worked on
various service projects around
Greensboro centered on home
lessness and hunger.
"It was really great to get this
group of very different people
all working toward a common
goal," said First. "Working,
cooking, and eating together
led to discussions about the big
ger issues that affect us all. It
really brought us all. together."
The "Access Everywhere"
and "Rooting Ourselves in
Greensboro" projects had the
benefits of being worked on
by PPS scholars. "Reaching Out
to the Stars" was the only one
conceived of and brought to
fruition without a PPS scholar's
involvement. In fact, the project
did not even start out under the
auspices of CPPS.
According to junior Graham
Bryden, "Reaching Out to the
Stars" began after he had been
working the radio telescope
with Assistant Professor of
Physics Don Smith for some
time. Smith suggested to
Bryden the option of turning
his research into a PPS project.
Senior Mel Corbett and junior
Garrett Tanner joined Bryden,
and the project was born.
"Originally this was just me
doing astronomy," said Bryden.
"When it became a PPS proj
ect and everyone else came on
board, we decided to make our
contribution to the community
via physical science education."
With the goal of improving
physical science education, the
group's work has focused on
teaching science at Guilford
Middle School every week.
"We're showing the students
that we can see the structure of
the galaxy using radio astron
omy," said Bryden. "It's really
cool."
"We don't give kids enough
credit," said Corbett. "They're
actually way smarter than you
think, and they ask the best
questions. It's better for them to
learn now than later."
Other projects than these
three are supported by CPPS,
but only these are competing
for the $1,000 prize of the GUS
Challenge. The prize is not the
point, however, according to
First.
"It would be nice to win, but
that's not why we did it," said
First. "Each of the groups has
done something that helps the
community."
The three projects competing
in the GUS challenge explore
different aspects of CPPS's goal
of making the world a better
place.
"The mission is to put our
core values to work in the
world," said Yarbray. "Each
group engages in an issue that
matters to them. Problems have
interlocking parts. They aren't
solved through direct routes,
they're solved through commu
nity involvement and under
standing."
(Clockwise from top) Close-up of the “Reaching out to the Stars and the Communi
ty using Radio Astronomy" group's radio telescope on the roof of the science center.
CPPS student Reid Perkins, senior, who collaborated on the project "Access Ev
erywhere: Handicap Accessibility on Guilford Campus. Project and Communication
Manager for the Center for Principled Problem Solving (CPPS) Kim Yarbray.
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(Left) junior Amanda
Dahili-Moore intertwines
twigs at the base of Patrick
Dougherty's sculpture.(Right)
Hallie Dowling-Huppert,
sophomore, reaches toward a
sapling arch. (Center) A bird's-
eye view of the finished product,
entitled "Disorderly Conduct."
Photos by Daryn Lane/Guilfordian