News > May 1, 2008

By Maya Yette | Staff writer

After being rescheduled due to bad weather, the fifth-annual Discovering Education through Student Knowledge (D.E.S.K.) event was held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 24 on Manchester Plaza.

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Students decorated desks and donated school supplies for underprivileged children April 24. (Alison Cox/Old Gold & Black)

Sixty underprivileged children from Old Town Elementary and Speas Elementary schools came to the university and were matched with one of over 40 campus groups participating in this service project. Volunteer teams ranged from fraternities and sororities to sports teams and graduate student associations. Each team worked with a student to design and decorate a desk especially for them. This year seniors Erin Tanner and Brent Sarver co-chaired the event. D.E.S.K. was started in 2000 by two university students who recognized that the children they were tutoring did not have a good place to study and learn at home.

“Every Wake student is given the opportunity to receive a rewarding and empowering education,” Sarver said.

“This is a wonderful way for our community to give back a small portion of what has been given to us and to promote the importance of working hard to attain knowledge.”

Tanner said the event is “about so much more than just painting a desk. Rather, it is about giving these children hope for a brighter future, with a personalized desk as a daily reminder of this message.”

For the first time in D.E.S.K. history, all of the children received gold tie-dye shirts with the D.E.S.K. Charlie Brown logo. “Seeing the kids run around while taking part in a Wake Forest tradition with smiles on their faces was undoubtedly the most rewarding part of the day,” Sarver said. There were games and music throughout the event, and awards were given for the most creative desks. The first place design award went to a desk with an achievement theme. This desk featured four levels of achievement represented by a landscape. The first level, elementary school – was depicted by the grass, the second level, middle school was the water, the third level, high school were the mountains, and the fourth and ultimate goal, college, was represented by the sun.

“I really hope that we can reach out to more local schools in the future. This is the first year that we have adopted a new school and I would like to see that continue,” Sarver said. Tanner agreed with Sarver’s sentiment.

“I hope D.E.S.K. will continue to grow because there are so many student groups who want to be involved with this project, and I know there are plenty of children in the local community who can benefit from this project,” he said.

Other desk themes included Sonic the Hedgehog, Sponge Bob, The Simpsons, Dora the Explorer, race cars, soccer, basketball and much more. Prizes were awarded throughout the event to all children as well.

“The most fulfilling part of D.E.S.K. is being able to provide a workspace for underprivileged children and to see there face when they get such a wonderful gift to take back with them,” national pan-hellenic treasurer Bridjette Brown said.