Issue link: http://georgiancollege.uberflip.com/i/445832
As an organization that promotes mental health and wellness for youth and their families, staff at New Path Youth and Family Services of Simcoe County decided that its office waiting areas needed sprucing up to ensure their clients' first point of contact was a positive one. It was from this idea that a project was formed. The assignment: Second-year Interior Decorating students work in teams to create an innovative decorating solution for a public waiting area that supports client needs and esthetic and functional requirements. The result: Students undertake a hands- on assignment that is also meaningful community service learning that teaches civic responsibility and strengthens our community. "The student design team met with our residential clients to ask what they would like to see in a space they readily use. This openness to hearing our clients' voices and creating a space based on this input mirrors what we do here at New Path daily," says April Dyment, New Path Care and Treatment Worker. Five student teams came up with designs for offices in Barrie, Cookstown, Collingwood and Orillia. They conducted site visits to measure the space and then they rendered scaled space plans with proposed furnishings and finishes for all walls, doors, window treatments, floors, ceilings and accessories, as well as a cost estimate. "It was amazing getting the chance to go out into the real world and work with real scenarios and people who needed your help. Never have I ever felt more accomplished and proud of work that I have done as I have with the New Path project," said student Emily Bulmer. The Cookstown office implemented the design created by Bulmer and her classmates Lisa D'Agostino, Elizabeth Henry and Kristen Coates. Not-for-profit office receives facelift from Interior Decorating students COMMuNITy SERvICE lEARNINg "It was amazing getting the chance to go out into the real world and work with real scenarios and people who needed your help." (Sitting from left) April Dyment and Emily Bulmer, (standing from left) Marlene Mitchelmore, Paula Baillie and Lisa D'Agostino are proud of the newly decorated waiting area at the Cookstown New Path office. Community Service Learning is a college-wide initiative. If you have an idea to include Georgian College students in a project that blends professional training and providing solutions to community needs, please contact Suzanne Addison-Toor, faculty lead, Social Entrepreneurship Centre, at Suzanne.AddisonToor@ georgiancollege.ca. 22 | GeorgianView 2013/14