Redding Pilot
Redding
Academic Lab makeover: Learning gets more palette-able

Mar 27, 2008

by Joan Lownds
Hersam Acorn Newspapers   

 The Joel Barlow High School Academic Lab is getting an extreme makeover. Through a volunteer project launched by the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), the classroom is undergoing a facelift supervised by Joelle Malec. She is a professional interior designer and PTSA member who donated her services.

The lab, where students receive extra help and make up tests, “was not a heavily used resource and the school asked the PSTA to assist in making it more user-friendly and welcoming,” said Melanie Goldstine, PTSA president.

 Leaving nothing to chance, the organization enlisted the services of Ms. Malec, the owner of a design company who has worked as a residential decorator for 17 years in Fairfield County.

Ms. Malec came up with a plan to “turn the academic lab into a Starbucks-like lounge with small tables for group work and a comfortable living room-like area that would be a relaxed place that was also cool enough for teenagers to want to go.”

The “coffeehouse feel,” according to Ms. Malec, is accented by colorful touches, including a mural that will be painted by students on March 29 with the help of a professional muralist, Elizabeth Katz of Easton. Ms. Malec said she had worked with Ms. Katz on several interior design projects, and asked the muralist for her help.

“The mural is very graphic with a lot of earth colors since we were trying to keep the palette compatible with the furniture that was donated for the space,” said Ms. Katz, who owns the La Palette business in Easton. Her detailed wall art has been shown on The Exchange television program, and in Victoria Magazine and County Kids Magazine.

Ms. Malec obtained a donation of a sofa and loveseat from the Heitsmith family of Easton, who are clients of hers. The Pantalena family of Easton also contributed “a sturdy, contemporary coffee table and side table,” said Ms. Malec, who is the parent of a Barlow freshman and a fifth grader at Samuel Staples Elementary School.

A “bright red New Zealand wool rug” was added by Redicut Carpet and Rug of Westport, and Frame and Save of Fairfield and Norwalk gave four black metal frames for a student photography gallery, according to Ms. Malec.

The finishing touches were donated by Ms. Malec, “red shaded table lamps and a large, red glazed bowl, which I hope will remain filled with red and green apples for the students to snack on while reading.”

For the mural work, Ms. Katz also credited Barlow art teacher Lee Skalkos. “I have had a lot of help from Ms. Skalkos,” Ms. Katz said. “She helped get the kids to do design and also got kids to participate in the actual painting of the mural.”

Thomas McMorran, Barlow’s principal, envisions the refurbished classroom as a place “where a student can receive personalized attention, seek academic help, organizational help, and also where they will be able to make up missed quizzes and exams. We hope to have parent volunteers help staff it.”

Ms. Malec anticipates that the spruced-up classroom will lift academics as well as spirits. “I am a believer that pleasant surroundings can have a positive effect on your mood and your ability to absorb knowledge, and ultimately your success,” she said.



© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers