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from the bell
to the well
Postcards for Progress
When most people walk
into a middle school cafeteria,
they see bagged lunches
and braces. Brendan Yorke,
a sophomore psychology
major from Canada, sees
more pressing problems than
mystery meat and awkward
pre-teen years. He sees a need
for change.
“There tends to be a table
of white kids, a table of black
kids and a table of Hispanic
kids,” Yorke says. “That’s just
how it happens; it’s not by
any design. It’s just because
kids don’t understand how to
communicate their culture in
a way that another group can
understand.”
Yorke wanted to bridge
the cultural gaps middle
school students seem to face
in their everyday lives, and he
brought that change directly
into their classrooms.
Evan Noll holds a postcard from P4P
and discusses the influence of art on
promoting diversity.
In spring 2010, he founded Postcards for Progress, an organization that
sends UNC-Chapel Hill students into middle schools to increase cultural
understanding via in-class lessons and art exchanges with foreign students.
During its first exchange, P4P consisted of four members and enlisted
only the help of a few on-site coordinators abroad. In the past two years,
these numbers are not the only things that have been growing. Postcards
for Progress has expanded its mission statement and welcomed a new director,
Evan Noll, who plans to develop Yorke’s organization even further.
“(Yorke) really has been a great mentor,” says Noll, a sophomore advertising
and American studies double major from Matthews. “We’ve just
been meeting a lot and going over little day-to-day stuff, but it’s also a lot
of big thinking.”
Such big thinking helped P4P members notice an alarming need for
domestic intercultural competency, causing the organization to shift from
concentrating its efforts abroad to fostering connections closer to home.
“Sure we can do these international connections, but there are a lot of
cultural explorations that can go on right inside the classroom,” Yorke says.
“That’s kind of been the redefining of our value statement.”
Noll plans to aid the new domestic focus by strengthening communication
with important connections abroad to ensure the best exchanges possible.
Such relationships provide concrete examples of cultural differences
used to enforce the program’s in-class lesson plans.
Noll says new group members’ creativity and innovative attitudes can
greatly shape P4P’s new focus.
“Everyone can bring a really unique thought to this,” Noll says. “Freshmen
can bring a fresh new perspective and an excitement to Postcards for
Progress that we always need.”
&
BY LAUREN BURTON
PHOTO BY EMILY WERK
6 CTOPS 2012
Shall We Dance
“There’s kind of this stigma that dance is not the manliest of
sports,” Ballroom Dance Club team captain Ellen Porter says. “But
we teach you how to be manly.”
Porter is confused as to why her team seems to lack males. After
all, guys on the team have the opportunity to meet girls while
learning widely known dances.
“You get to dance with a lot of hot girls, so it’s a great way to
meet them,” she adds.
UNC-Chapel Hill’s Ballroom Dance Club encompasses two
separate programs: a social club, which teaches beginners the basic
steps and styles, and a competitive team, which frequently travels
for competitions.
The scarcity of males is evident only on the team, where the
girls sometimes struggle to find a partner. It’s the opposite case in
the club.
“This year we have more guys than girls,” says senior Nathan
Wong, a frequent social club participant.
Junior Joanna Miranda adds, “Usually, even the dance instructor
is part of the rotation, but sometimes he just watches because
there aren’t enough girls.”
Meals with Heels
Amongst over 18,000 undergraduates, it’s easy to feel like just
another number at UNC-Chapel Hill. And with only about 3,500
professors, competing for a teacher’s attention in class or during brief
office hours can seem daunting.
Irene Neequaye, a senior anthropology and international studies
major, wanted to help students establish relationships with their
professors in a more personal, informal setting.
In fall 2011, Neequaye kicked off Meals with Heels, allowing
students and professors to share a meal and conversation at any oncampus
dining location free of charge.
Blair Puleo, a sophomore psychology major, met with her MUSC
145: Introduction to Jazz professor, Dr. Brooks Smith, through the
Meals with Heels program.
“He was very nice and so down to earth. I think you don’t really
get that from just a classroom experience,” Puleo says. “So I feel like
almost everyone should do this with every class and every professor.”
Neequaye created Meals with Heels in EDUC 318: Peer Leadership
in the University Environment, where the assignment was to
create a project that would positively benefit the University. She successfully
implemented the program and even received a grant for it.
“I believe in the program and have seen it operate at other universities,”
Annice Fisher, professor of the EDUC 318 class, says.
The number of meals each week varies, but close to 25 meals have
taken place on campus thus far.
Despite the program’s popularity, Neequaye worries it will disappear
once she graduates this semester. She faces the dilemma of find-
The social dance
“The Turkey Trot” was
banned in some states in the
early 1900s because partners
faced each other. One woman
served 50 days in jail.
source: www.mentalfloss.
com
ing another student
to run the program.
“I didn’t create the
program for it to not
be sustainable,” Neequaye
says. “I think
that it is very easy
and very do-able.”
Although Meals
with Heels has seen
success in the UNC-
CH community, Neequaye
still believes
student-professor
relationships could
use further improvement.
The team regularly travels up and
down the East Coast for competitions,
but the majority of the team
only began dancing when they
joined the club.
Sophomore David Spanos
began dancing in the social club;
in a week, he was practicing with
the team.
“I learned so many dances in such
a small amount of time,” Spanos says.
“It was such an experience and such a
confidence boost.”
Sophomore and team treasurer Laura Zhou emphasizes
the benefits of the club’s unique balance of rivalry and sociality.
“Having that social aspect gives you that opportunity to meet a lot
of new people in addition to improving your own relationship with your
partner in the competitive aspect,” Zhou says.
Roughly 60 members dance competitively, sometimes practicing
daily and challenging one another.
LEFT TO RIGHT: Blair Puleo, Professor Brooks Smith,
Kevin Chu and Jordan Rhoney have lunch as part of
Meals with Heels.
“I think we still have a long way to go,” she admits.
Fisher says that the responsibility lies with UNC-CH students.
For the program to succeed she says, “it takes students being able to reach
outside of their comfort zone and be able to engage.”
Meals with Heels has begun to bridge the gap between students and faculty.
From the classroom to the dining hall, students and teachers can have meaningful
discussions beyond classes and office hours.
Neequaye says, “If anything (the program) just supplements the classroom
education and enriches it.”
&
BY KATE FEDDER
PHOTO BY MELISSA KEY
Porter doesn’t deny
experiencing a small amount
of stress from competing
against team members but
says the social club seems to
offset that drama.
“The social aspect kind
of gives you a breather and
reminds you that dances are
supposed to be fun,” she
says. “It evolves so that you
can dance with people you’ve
never met before.”
Zhou says the tension is
inevitable, but in the end the
dancers are all Tar Heels.
Sophomores Nathan Alghrim and
Laura Zhou practice for the ballroom
dance team Nationals in the last few
days before the competition.
“You want to do well, but at the same time you want to see your
team members do well,” Zhou explains. “It’s more of a UNC-CH feel.
We shout out and cheer team numbers, so it’s a very lively atmosphere.”
I am going to tell you a secret.
Every year many, many stupid
people graduate from college.
And if they can do it, so can
you.
— JOHN GREEN
&
BY MASA WATANABE
PHOTO BY MELISSA KEY
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