Penn College News

Returning RAs Bring Touch of Home to Local Shelter

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

One of the teams of returning Resident Assistants leave its decorative mark at Wise Options.As part of training and teamwork, Pennsylvania College of Technology Residence Lifejoined with Wise Options in an experiential-learning scenario that benefited both returning Resident Assistants and the community.

Returning RAs, separated into groups, had to organize the remodeling of a room atthe agency'sdomestic-violence shelter. Group members had to work together by coming up with a plan, picking out paint colors and working within a budget of $65 to transform their rooms.

Teams entered the shelter at 1 p.m. Friday, separated into their rooms and got to work. They hadfour hours to repaint and decorate their rooms.

All of the teams did a wonderful job. Decorating the rooms where people stay has a huge impact on how they feel. Walking into a nicely decorated room provides a more home-like feel, which is important when you have left your home in search of refuge from domestic violence.

The Wise Options staff was greatly impressed with the work the Resident Assistants accomplished.

Students and staff involved in the project were:

Group 1

Ashley Smith Thomas Garrett James Jones Jamie Lear Clayton Morrow

Group 2

Tim Mallery

Dereck Smith

Andrew Schwalm

Kimberly Erdman

Eric Bruno

Group 3

Shadra Smith

Jason Kovach

Kelly Craven

Brian Walton

John Phillippy

Group 4

Leron Burge

Jeremy Jones

Tyler Wetzel

Christie Henning

Steven Ritter

Photos of their work, each room bearing the distinctive and decorative stamp of its creators, follow:

Information providedby Residence Life coordinatorAshley A. Smith; photos by RA Clayton B. Morrow