The Winner of the 2004 FWCI Industrys $10,000 scholarship is L. David Peters

The winner of the 2004 Foundation of the
Wall and Ceiling Industry’s $10,000
scholarship is L. David Peters, son of
Steve Peters of L.D. Peters and Sons,
Inc., New Rochelle, N.Y. He is a junior at
Yale University studying architecture.



The Foundation provides $10,000 to an applicant
who is furthering his or her education in the fields
of construction management, engineering or architecture.
It is available for qualifying AWCI member
company employees and their direct dependents.
The first portion of the scholarship will be
given to Peters in time for the springtyler 2004
semester.



Meet the Winner



Peters has been working with the information systems
at his father’s construction supply wholesale
company since September 2001, for five hours a
week. He is responsible for the maintenance and
configuration of the computer hardware, software
and networking infrastructure.



In the summer of 2003, Peters worked for the
architecture firm of Hart-Howerton in New York
City. There, as an intern working a 40-hour week,
he catalogued detail drawings, did CAD entry and
editing, made models and performed preliminary
project research and architectural product
specification research.



In his freshman and sophomore years at
Yale, Peters says his primary extracurricular
activity was in theater. He became
heavily involved in technical theater,
specifically in set construction. During
those two years, Peters was the technical
director for four shows produced by
the Yale Dramatic Association, where he
was responsible for constructing the set
from blueprints. For each production,
he managed a team of two to five carpenters
in the association’s wood shop.



Good experience for a future architect,
the sets were made primarily out of
wood framing; most of the set platforms
used a 2-by-4 stud wall construction.
The entire build process typically took
six to eight weeks, working 10 to 30
hours per week.



Peters says he also has been involved in
other aspects of the theater, planning
some work in set design. He currently
serves as an archivist to the association,
and hopes to continue his work in theater
during his remaining two years at Yale.



Peters was also active in extracurricular
activities when he was in high school.
He played Junior Varsity water polo
throughout high school and was a JV
swimmer through his junior year. A
shoulder injury kept him from swim-ming
in his senior year, so he was
recruited as head manager of both the
men’s and women’s varsity teams. In
addition, in his senior year he was the
Junior Varsity Water Polo Captain.



In addition to writing opinion pieces for
the school newspaper, Peters volunteered
his time to his community
through several school-sponsored clubs.
He taught adults to read, raised money
for a local food pantry and for an international
hunger campaign, visited a
nursing home, took part in a peer-listening
counseling group and helped
other students to get connected to the
school’s network and the internet. In
addition to holding several leadership
positions within those groups, Peters
was a charter member of a support
group for students who choose to
remain free of drugs and alcohol.



How to Win


As part of the application process, applicants
must provide information such as
proof of employment, employment history,
school transcripts and references.
In addition, applicants have to respond Deadline Is Next Summer
to the following questions in an essay:
“What is your major? Why have you
chosen this major? What is your final
goal? What do you think you can bring
to the industry with your background
and education?” (You can see his winning
essay in the sidebar.)



Jane Northern is the director of membership
marketing and programs for the
Association of the Wall and Ceiling
Industries—International and also the
staff liaison for the Foundation’s executive
committee, which is the committee
that selects the scholarship winner.
Northern said, “The Foundation’s scholarship
committee tried something new
this year: They took the top candidates
and conducted individual phone interviews
with them so that the committee
members could get a better feel for the
applicant’s personality and dedication to
the industry. All the interviews went
well, but Mr. Peters did exceptionally
well. According to those who interviewed
him, he was selected primarily
because of his maturity and intelligence.
We’re all very proud to help continue his
education in the field of architecture.”



How can your student get $10,000? If
you or any of your full-time dependents
meet the following requirements, and
you work for an AWCI-member company,
you are eligible to apply for the
scholarship program:


  • The applicant must be pursing a
    post-high school education in the field
    of construction management, engineering
    or architecture. Graduate school,
    technical school and associate degree
    program students, as well as students of
    traditional four-year colleges are all eligible
    to apply.

  • The applicant must have achieved a
    cumulative 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) academic
    average for the last two full-time
    semesters of study.

  • The applicant must be a full-time
    student or must be’ intending to become
    a full-time student.



Deadline Is Next Summer



The deadline for the 2005 scholarship is
Aug. 1, 2004. The winner will be selected
during the Foundation’s meeting in
September, during AWCI’s Industry
Executives’ Conference & Committee
Week. This will allow the winner to have
advance notice and be able to attend
AWCI’s Annual Convention & Trade
Show, which is where the winner’s name
will be formally announced. Peters will
be invited to attend AWCI’s annual convention
in Las Vegas, Nev., April 12-17.



Call Northern at (703) 538-1615 to
have an application mailed to you when
they are available, or if you have any
questions.

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