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Applications for the Davie Respect Initiative Challenge are coming in with great ideas on how to spread respect.

Panelists have been selected to review the submissions.

Kayla Roscoe: “What I’ve learned from the Davie Respect project is just how easy it is to just go out and bless somebody. Just doing something small for them makes a big impact.”

She is a senior at the Davie Early College and a 2018 DRI winner. She said she and her friends enjoyed carrying out her project which is doing yardwork for the elderly.

Maria Gonzalez: “In this ever-changing world where new ideas emerge continuously, the Davie Respect Initiative is a great reminder that caring for others is an important value.”  She works at the Mocksville and Cooleemee public libraries as a cataloging assistant processing books.

Matt Settlemyer: “The foundation of all communities is respect and, in that regard, DRI has created a unique and invaluable service to our county.  The young men and women who submitted proposals are role models in our community. I’m proud to be part of an initiative that recognizes and promotes our most fundamental values.”  He is the town manager of Mocksville.

Regina Graham: “Respect is a form of honor that I freely give to others even though I may not receive respect in return.” She is a curriculum consultant for elementary and middle schools.

Towfik Shahata: “These young students have such great ideas on how to create respectful and inclusive communities. They are very ambitious and talented, and I see great potential in their future if it’s anything like the ideas they put forth in this initiative. I’m proud of the youth because they truly care about our community and humanity and want to make the world a better place.” The owner of Venezia Italian Restaurant, Shahata was an enthusiastic 2018 DRI panelist.   

So that the evaluation process is as fair and objective, the names and other identifying information for each application is replaced with a number prior to being sent to the panelists.

Each panelist evaluates every application, rating the applications based on five criteria:  the potential effectiveness of the project; its feasibility and originality; how substantial the project content is; and the likelihood of implementation.  The panelists combine their individual scores to come up with the 20 highest scoring applications.

Those 20 are the semifinalists.  The semifinalists are contacted for interviews in which each has the opportunity to meet with the panelists and tell them about their idea and answer questions about their idea/project. The panelists, as a group, then have the challenge of selecting the 10 finalists who will receive the $1,000 prizes.

The purpose of the DRI Challenge is to increase the amount of respect show n to one another through thoughts and actions.

On Nov. 14, there will be a final celebration at which the 10 finalists are announced at the Farmington Community Center from 7-8 p.m.

Enter to increase the demonstrated respect in Davie and to potentially win $1,000.

Visit www.davierespect.com.