One high school, 190 students and five days of innovation. Gibson Ek High School invited six community organizations, including our landscape architects from Site Workshop, to present students with some of the real challenges they were working on. Students selected a challenge, formed teams and worked to understand the need and design creative solutions. Five days later students pitched their designs to the challengers to see which team advanced to the school-wide competition for most innovative solution.
The short amount of time and genuine challenges gave students and participating organizations an intense week of learning and inspiration. Clayton Beaudoin, Principal at Site Workshop commented, “I was blown away by the quality of the thinking, creativity and presentations. We were so inspired by the team’s imagination and intuitive understanding of the key objectives and associated challenges. Our team was truly impressed.”
The team of three young ladies who advanced from the Eli’s Park Project group went on to present to a panel of professionals, mentors and community members. Their innovative ideas and professional presentation led them to first place overall.
Sabina, a Gibson Ek student on the winning team said, “Getting the opportunity to design on a project that means so much to so many people is incredible. Being a part of this has been such a rewarding experience and our team is very excited to see how our designs move forward in the process of this project.”
Check out the winning group’s presentation and ingenuity around developing unique, welcoming and inclusive entries to the park.
Thank you, Gibson Ek High School, for empowering students and for bringing us into your community. Thank you to all the students who participated in being advocates for social change. And a huge thank you to Avanthikaa, Caitlin and Sabina for sharing your enthusiasm and thoughtful ideas and for your dedication to inclusion. Your innovation is already creating change.