Category: Green Schoolyards; Sustainable Design; Green Building
Nature to Neighborhood Studio
The Nature to Neighborhood Studio is a 1500 square foot, off-grid, solar powered structure that was built on an existing slab at the rear of the campus where a house once stood. Initial models were hand-drawn and interpreted in 3-D models created by students before the final design was achieved. Construction complete May 2018. The Nature to Neighborhood Studio received Caudill Class distinction, the highest architectural honor in Texas awarded to an education space.
Garage doors on all four sides provide a truly flexible workspace for students to spread out and feel comfortable. The container-storage space on the rear of the structure (i.e. – closer to the school building) provided storage for power tools, angler education equipment, camping gear, and art lesson materials. The cistern provided water for new pollinator gardens and a flume where students could learn experientially about geomorphology and river ecology. The US Map was painted by an Eagle Scout candidate in 2008. He returned and restored the map when the Studio was constructed in 2018.
Beyond traditional academic professional development, teacher professional development at the space included twice a week yoga instruction, looking out to the federally protected Balcones Canyonlands Preserve. Teachers struggle to find time for personal health and wellness, and the experience was developed after surveys with teachers, and resulted in higher overall job satisfaction.
Category: Green Schoolyards; Nature Play; STEM; Student Design
The Grove
Public-private partnerships and grants from Texas Parks and Wildlife, the City of Austin, and the District resulted in a Nature Playground called, “The Grove.” The design came from a 9-week “enrichment cluster” where 4th and 5th grade students worked with a team of landscape architects to create professional-grade designs. Students presented to risk management personnel, teachers, and landscape architects and a final design was created by the landscape architects.
One of the features in the design was a large rain garden that uses an existing rainwater runoff pattern from the campus down into the Bull Creek Watershed. Third grade students selected native plants and planted them in the rain garden, taking over stewardship of the space.
In 2018-2019 school year an “SLC Program” was transferred to the campus consisting of approximately 25 students on the autism spectrum, their teachers and support staff, and parents/caregivers who are not all zoned for the campus. A new grant team was developed to welcome these students to the campus with appropriate support systems including additional outdoor classroom space, a “fort” that provides a retreat and relief during moments of over-stimulation, sensory play elements, natural-element defined boundaries, and other supports that include vestibular, compression, heavy-work, and proprioceptive elements.
CATEGORY: Green Schoolyards; Ecology; Hydrogeology; Watersheds; Nature Play; Nature Connectedness; STEM; Student Connectedness
Water Harvesting for Wildlife
Using a District “Partners in Education” grant and the support of a parent (structural engineer) and Scientist in Residence Fellow from the University of Texas, in 2013, math and science instruction were taught through the lens of “water” and “triangles.”
Students designed and tested models for a water-harvesting structure that would relieve the stress on the school’s water system, the human-made ponds, and provide cleaner, rainwater replenishment for the plants and animals that relied on them for their survival and success.
CATEGORY: GREEN SCHOOLYARDS; ECOLOGY; PHENOLOGY; EROSION PREVENTION; LIVING LABORATORIES; BOTANY; POLLINATOR ECOSERVICES; STUDENT DESIGN; REGULATORY PRACTICES, WELLNESS
Pollinator Garden
Adjacent to the edible gardens and just outside from The Hive (functional teaching kitchen) is an erosion prevention measure designed to function as a living laboratory and pollinator garden.
In 2016-2017, I was paired with a PhD candidate from the Jha Lab (Integrative Biology) and we worked with our students to better connect them with phenological relationships, the idea of eco-services, and the importance of biodiversity.
CATEGORY: GREEN SCHOOLYARDS; ECOLOGY; FOODWAYS; FOOD SYSTEMS; HUMAN HEALTH; LIFE CYCLES; SUSTAINABILITY; FARM TO TABLE
The Hive: A Teaching Kitchen
Adjacent to the edible gardens and pollinator garden is “The Hive,” a functional teaching kitchen.
The space is heavily used for a variety of reasons, but the uniting theme for the 30(ish) languages on the campus is the opportunity to create and share cultural connections through culinary experiences. The Hive opens to the school’s edible gardens, which were expanded four-fold and upgraded to include a chicken coop and accessibility features for mobility impaired persons.
Professional development opportunities I developed for teachers included working with a small farmer and chef to create a year long “farm to table” curriculum that culminated in the creation of a cookbook and best practices for gardens and small farms. Collectively, teacher job satisfaction and value of professional development was measurably increased.
Other schools in Central Texas, such as Cunningham Elementary in Austin ISD have followed this model, converting their science labs to kitchens, and expanding their gardens.
CATEGORY: NATURE FOR ALL; NATURE CONNECTEDNESS: ACCESSIBILITY, MOBILITY IMPAIRMENT and DISABILITY; BIRDING.
Extending “ADA Friendly Trail”
When the pandemic struck, funds were available to contract a third party to construct an ADA friendly trail at the nature preserve where I worked. I made the decision to bring the work in-house based on the belief that busy hands can calm busy minds. We worked with Virginia Rose, founded of Birdability, whom I had birded with in the past, to design a trail that was friendly for people with mobility challenges. Virginia was in the early stages of Birdability, and the video we made with her wound up being distributed across Audubon Society’s social media. We were able to host follow-up birding outings with Virginia and Birdability supporters.
CATEGORY: GREEN SCHOOLYARDS; ECOLOGY; PHENOLOGY; EROSION PREVENTION; LIVING LABORATORIES; BOTANY; POLLINATOR ECOSERVICES; STUDENT DESIGN; REGULATORY PRACTICES, WELLNESS
Pillow Park Project
COMMUNITY LED DESIGN: “Just Listen”
People and urban wildlife convene at parks, and if designed correctly, they can enhance community development, decrease crime, improve human health and wellness, and support a brighter tomorrow for all.
I assembled a team of PhD botanists and conservation researchers to co-author a grant for a project to redefine a campus in Austin ISD that would rely on community input to support a biodiversity focused, natural-element design. We were fortunate to have immediate support from the campus, and the project took major turns and had to cross major hurdles with the City and ISD to keep the project on track, turning from in-person feedback meetings to digital marketing and social media.
The finished design called for increased tree canopy, pollinator friendly spaces, a “council circle,” and a sensory path for students. We also heard about preferred “off limits” areas from partners and navigated according to their wishes.
