Part 6 of the 6-part series
<<Part 5: Furniture
Ultimately, Moseley Architects’ goals for the North Carolina Academy extends beyond info-gathering for the company’s K-12 projects and co-sponsors. By hosting additional Academies, officials say it’s their hope that the events’ outcomes will inspire a shift in how every architect, school official and district views school design. If even one or two of the elements discovered in North Carolina make their way into real-life settings, that’s a home run for education, Fellows suggested. But they’d like to see more.
“We just need one school district to be brave enough to be the first,” Goodwin suggests.
In the meantime, the experience has already impacted teachers. “How transformational this was for my colleagues and I,” McKinney said about the Academy. “I really believe it could be an amazing model for other businesses, industries and corporations to look at.”
In the meantime, the experience has already impacted teachers. “How transformational this was for my colleagues and I,” McKinney said about the Academy. “I really believe it could be an amazing model for other businesses, industries and corporations to look at.”
“Just knowing that our voices were heard and that our ideas were taken seriously gives me hope,” another said.
The Academy’s conclusion drew emotional reactions from some participants, producing lots of tears. “These people—there’s so much care about what they do and the lives they impact,” Bill Laughlin said.
“I’m hoping that maybe the more people—especially those who make decisions—begin to consider these elements, the more likely they are to be considered, because they seemed really important to these teachers,” Ashley Dennis said. At the very least, she suggested, Moseley Architects will eek as much out of the ideas as it can, by suggesting them where possible to the firm’s K-12 clients.
“Having had two days with these teachers to learn why these things are important helps me ask the right questions,” Dennis explained. “When we’re in these situations, leading design workshops with superintendents and principals, discussing curricula … people who can make decisions … we can ask questions like, ‘Where would you want to put a kiosk if you provided breakfast?’ And they might say, ‘Oh, well we never thought about that, but that’s a great idea.’ Or we might suggest, ‘How about we make the nurse’s room just a little bit bigger, so it can serve as more of an actual medical center?’”
It’s those questions that Moseley Architects and participants in the North Carolina Academy to Envision Tomorrow’s Schools hope will lead to better school designs and an enhanced educational experience for educators and students.