The Long Island Children’s Museum was recently named one of 10 recipients of this year’s National Medal for Museum and Library Service at a White House ceremony. The National Medal, the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries, is presented to organizations that demonstrate extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions.

In a letter to Professor Jon Otis, LICM president, Suzanne LeBlanc writes, “This recognition honors not just LICM, but all our partners and supporters who work with us to address our community’s needs and challenges — people like you!”

Pratt Institute is recognized as a community partner and named in a brochure produced in conjunction with this year’s ceremony.

Congratulations to EDI and thank you to all students who worked on LICM projects.

Our design for the book bus seeks to celebrate reading and learning as a social process. The exterior features the word “read” in the most prominent languages spoken in North Brooklyn as well the faces of the users. The interior of the bus employs the colors of the St. Nicks Alliance logo to create a vibrant, colorful, and rhythmic space, with bands of color wrapping around all four planes forming a tunnel that visitors move through to select books or sit down and linger in one of the reading nooks.
Student Team: Amna Ali, Richard Ferrer, Joo Eun Lee, Andrea Montoya, Jade Park, Luzelena Wood

Books take readers on journeys through time and culture, geography and history — broadening our imaginations and fueling a culture of literacy. The St. Nicks Alliance Book Bus uses the concept “Books Can Take You Anywhere” to provide the children, parents, and community of North Brooklyn with an experience that drives the love for reading. By providing access to books and supporting family literacy, the bus will measurably impact reading skills and school achievement.
Student Team: Emma Kim, Jessica Pitts, Katherine Plunkett, Dan Pritchett, Paola Ramirez-Santarriaga, Ashley Smith

The “Read for Life” project is a holistic and comprehensive proposal for growing a culture of literacy in North Brooklyn. Our design proposal for the St. Nicks Alliance Book Bus envisions the bus as a traveling community center and an inviting environment that serves not only as a mobile library but also as a traveling hub between the existing network of the St. Nicks Alliance community partners. Through a wide range of programming all based around storytelling and active engagement with narrative, our belief is that by engaging children and their families you can create lifelong readers and build strong, sustainable communities in North Brooklyn.
Student Team: Vanessa Beyloianis, Florence DiJohnson, Aya Fujimori, Niketa Shah, Kelly Rosen, Kevin Tyjer

Welcome to EDI Blog, a place where faculty and students enrolled in Pratt Institute’s EDI course can share program and project information.

EDI Blog is divided into different areas including the main content column at the left and the sidebar at the right. Within the sidebar, visit “Featured Posts” where general information about the course (like this post) will be posted. Also visit “Archives” where 2012  second-semester client projects are posted. Scroll down to see archives from 2010 and 2011 and relevant links.

Fall 2012 projects are listed by team number, each of which links to the category page for that team’s work. Posts will display in reverse chronological order with the most recent at the top.

Students will be required to create post content for the blog over the course of each semester. A post will follow with instructions regarding how to prepare and submit your materials.