Homework looks cool

Maya Kukes

MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH -- Children at the Boys & Girls Club were in for

a shock Monday afternoon when they came to the club to do their homework.

Gone were the mismatched bookshelves, frayed posters and cramped desks

in the club’s homework room.

Over the weekend, volunteers from IKEA worked to give the room a

snazzy makeover, complete with fresh light-blue paint, new bookshelves,

chairs and desks, framed posters and magazine organizers.

“It just looks fantastic,” Alex Fey, the club’s executive director

said. “I was just in shock when I saw the finished product.”

Twenty volunteers, all employees of IKEA, donated approximately 14

hours Saturday and Sunday to help transform the room.

IKEA donated the $4,000 worth of materials to revitalize the

400-square-foot room. Chrissie Pierce, public relations coordinator at

IKEA,learned of the club’s need for a remodel through a community

networking gathering.

The redesign will nearly double the number of students who can use the

room from 16 to 30.

Small, cramped desks have made way for large, lightweight tables that

can be easily moved and will allow for cooperative learning.

“The desks for the computers are so pretty,” said Joanna Lebrun, 12.

“There’s just something to it -- the room looks so pretty. It was a total

shock when I saw it.”

Lisa Deaz, 8, agreed.

“I went into the room and was like ‘Whoa!’ ” Lisa said.

Peggy Kovacic, an interior designer at IKEA who helped plan the room,

said the finished product was “amazing.” But what she looked forward to

most was seeing the responses of the children who would use the room.

“Just seeing their faces, their reactions, that will make it,” Kovacic

said.

“It’s not the same room that it was,” said Fey. “Now it’s the way it

should be. Everything is perfect, right down to the clock on the wall.’