Page 86 - Lighting Magazine June 2018

Lighting Star
Emela answered questions about lighting from parents and teachers.
Emela contacted nearly one dozen resources from lighting manufacturers to lighting showrooms nationwide, but only two people wrote back... one of which was industry veteran Judy Ziccardi, a lighting designer and owner of the retail show- room Lighting Innovation in California.
“I received Emela’s email and thought it was adorable. She was looking for any information and materials she could nd about lighting so I sent her the Lighting magazine [produced by the ALA and Be er Homes & Gardens] and a Schonbek video that detailed the various grades/types of crystal,” Ziccardi says.
Emela was appreciative of Ziccardi’s help and the two began a correspondence about the project [with her parents’ permission]. With the student located in Michigan and the mentor in California, they decided the best way to “talk” more about lighting was through Skype.
“I walked around my showroom so she could see what a lighting showroom looked like and the various types of lighting xtures in it,” Ziccardi states. “In particular I showed her a chandelier with rock crystal on it up close since the video I had sent mentioned rock crystal.”
The Skype session lasted for 45 minutes and further ignited Emela’s interest in the topic. As
part of her 23-page presentation, Emela details the inventors of the light bulb – including the con- troversy over which person deserves credit – and provides a chronology of technical development, especially the growing importance of LEDs. Along the way, she creatively illustrates her research pa- per with statistics.
At the project’s completion, Emela con dently spoke in front of her class, teachers, and parents on the topic of “Lighting Innovation” with her project mo o: “You’ll leave feeling bright a er you learn something about light!”
Accompanying her was an information board il- lustrating her most important research ndings. “I draped light bulbs across it that lit up while I gave the presentation,” she recalls. “People really liked my board and my project. It was di erent from the ones other people did. Even my teacher thought it was pre y cool.”
Emela is so well-versed in her lighting topic that she just might be considered a budding expert. The students revealed their nal projects to an audience of parents and peers. Emela giggles as she recalls, “I was presenting my research to another parent [who was a ending the program] and I asked her who she thought invented the light bulb, and she answered, “I don’t know, was it Benjamin Franklin?”
Meanwhile her mentor, Ziccardi, couldn’t be prouder. “I was so disappointed to learn that no one besides myself and another woman [named Suzanne] responded to Emela’s request for in- formation,” Ziccardi remarks. “When it comes to learning, if we can’t take a moment to give back and encourage such a ery interest in the industry then that is heartbreaking. I got my start at 15 years old doing ling and cleaning chandeliers at a light- ing showroom as a part-time job. When I saw this li le girl with such a passion to learn about lighting, I just wanted to help her. I understand that we’re all busy, but sometimes that ve minutes you give can inspire someone for a lifetime. I think it’s our job to nurture the younger generation. I was really inspired by Emela and her project. With a lot of industry veterans retiring, we need to have young people who truly have a passion for the business instead of just wanting to collect a paycheck. If you are blessed to come across someone who has that passion, it’s an enormous opportunity.”
Emela’s 23-page project can be viewed online at h p://lightinginnovations.weebly.com
84 enLIGHTenment Magazine | June 2018
www.enlightenmentmag.com