Guerilla Educators

The Scott Collegiate Vibe

As Fielding Nair International continues to work with the folks in Regina, Saskatchewan to assist in the re-design of their North Central neighborhood, we have also begun engaging students in the heart of North Central, at Scott Collegiate High School.  As the transformation of North Central continues, the young citizens at Scott now have opportunities to make a difference in their community by having authentic input into this exciting, community-wide process.  Plans are underway to create the frameworks at Scott that will empower the students to have their voices heard both in their school and their community.  This video shows a session with Scott Collegiate students called, "Student Vibe" where the participants are discussing and sketching their visions about what the next physical facility will look like while affirming that the "vibe" that makes Scott such a special place will stay the same.
Take a look...

To view more links to Scott students, click here.

Guerilla Educators Now Part of CEFPI

We are privileged to announce that Guerilla Educators CEO, John Sole, recently became a member of the Council of Educational Facilities Planners (CEFPI), International.  Our work of connecting educational facilities design to students, educators, and curriculum/standards via the Project Based Learning methodology has become a major part of our professional profile, so it is a natural fit to be associated with this fine organization.  For more information about how Guerilla Educators can help your school projects be more effective, please feel free to drop us a line.

On September 30, 2008, at CEFPI's 85th Annual World Conference and Expo, John Sole will conduct a seminar with the architect, David Schrader entitled:

Educational Facility Design and Project Based Learning: The Real Connection
This seminar demonstrates case studies where the architectural process has been opened to the entire educational and community realm and where that process has nurtured a dynamic learning process to follow. Engaging the child in their “real world” community and involving them in a process which ultimately engages the spectrum of core learning skills is an opportunity that must be exploited. Presenters will demonstrate how connecting school design directly to the frontlines in classrooms via a process that begins with the design charrette and continues with project based service Learning provides the most potent opportunity to expand children’s cognitive abilities.

Green Design/Build at Philadelphia University

Download CharetteWorkbook.pdf

On June 14, 2008, graduate students from Rob Fleming's "Green Design Build" course participated in and had leadership responsibility for a design charrette at Awbury Arboretum. The charrette was to create a design scheme for a permanent wash station for Weaver's Way Coop Farm at Awbury. Rob is the Director of the Master of Science in Sustainable Design Program at Philadelphia University and the lead teacher/creator of the Design/Build course. The charrette was the "design" part of a process that continued in early August, as the students were then tasked to "build" the wash station from recycled building materials, whose design was based on concepts developed at the charrette. The process was one of the most powerful examples of the hands on project based Service Learning methodology we here at Guerilla Educators have been involved with, to date. For the students, none of whom had participated in either a charrette or in a construction project of such magnitude, the program was transformative. This video shows the full sweep of the design/build process, from concept through to completion of the physical facility. Wow!             
One key aspect of Philadelphia University's mission and vision as a private institution of higher learning is that they are committed to providing an experiential education for their students.  As a result, Philly U is recognized as a leader in the architecture, design, engineering, business, textiles, and health and sciences fields and is fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.   Courses like Green Design Build powerfully demonstrate why they are also on the cutting edge of developing the next generation of sustainable designers.

The 7 Hallmarks of Effective Project Based Service Learning

We believe that Project Based Service Learning is the most effective pedagogical strategy for ALL students to achieve rigorous academic and civic success across all grade levels and regardless of demographic variables.
There are 7 Hallmarks of the Project Based Service Learning methodology:

OWNERSHIP - When students are interested and invested in the completion of a project, they begin to own their educational processes.  When students own the project, all aspects, including mastery of curriculum become important to the students.

• With ownership comes personal responsibility.
• Completion of the project becomes important.
• Employment of strategies like critical thinking, hypothesis, extension of learning becomes commonplace.
• Motivation to succeed.
• Ownership starts with YOU, the teacher!

Get invested in the processes of PBSL.  Initiate projects with your students that interest you, so you can authentically Model ownership.
Teach!

ENGAGEMENT - Ownership and engagement are essentially 2 sides of the same coin.  When students take ownership and personal responsibility for the successful outcome of their project, it follows that they are engaged and interested.  Any good Service Learning project will present students with many opportunities to think critically, make hypotheses, and extend what they have learned.  Engagement in the project is the door to performing these important skills which engender academic and civic success.

COOPERATIVE TEACHING/LEARNING - Teacher collaborations present powerful opportunities for educators to learn from each other which can increase the strategies available in their pedagogical toolboxes.
Students working cooperatively in small groups to achieve  project based goals is a powerful methodology to achieve curricular and standards based objectives.  Moreover, when students are focused on the goals of a project, they are more inclined to negotiate with their peers and make persuasive arguments to get their point of view adopted by the group.  The cooperative nature of small groups working together for successful completion of the project has an extremely positive effect on the classroom climate and behavior issues are significantly mitigated.

CITIZENSHIP/Community Partnerships - Development of good citizenship skills as part of the fabric of teaching and learning is critical to the long term, real-life success of our students.

Civic skills give greater depth, context and meaning to student mastery of curriculum and standards.
Integral to a Service Learning project is the inclusion of Community Partnerships.  By their nature, professionals who freely give their time and expertise to benefit students are models of good citizenship.  In general, Community Partners model good citizenship in action.

MASTERY OF CURRICULUM - The primary rationale to employ the Service Learning is, in fact, as a tool for student achievement, both academically and socially.  A project's success is ultimately determined by whether the project based activities are connected to grade appropriate curriculum and state standards and more importantly, whether these connections enable students to achieve mastery across a range of academic disciplines.  We have seen that when students work within the Project Based methodology they own their educational processes, are engaged in a project's activities, work cooperatively to achieve success, and see citizenship modeled by the Community Partners, then mastery of curriculum becomes more likely because the students are more self motivated achieve success in all aspects of their scholastic experience.

TECHNOLOGY - Technology is the #2 pencil of the 21st century.  As such, any good Service Learning project will be embedded with a wide array of technical applications. 

FUN - School and  Fun?  While the terms are usually in diametric opposition to each other, students having FUN is an integral aspect of the Project Based Service Learning methodology and is the overarching link that makes PBSL so effective.

Service Learning Video Compilation

This video is a Project Based Service Learning compilation of 5 world class projects conducted by students across a variety of grade levels at 4 public schools in Philadelphia.  The thread running through the projects in this film is that they are all centered around various aspects of green, sustainable themes and activities.  You will witness in about 10 compelling minutes, projects which have taken over 200 hours to complete, from planning through to reporting out/celebration.  Take a look...

These projects, in total, authentically delineate many of the 7 Hallmarks of Effective Project Based Service Learning and demonstrate some of the reasons that PBSL is the most effective pedagogical strategy for ALL students to achieve at rigorous levels.

Canadian Idol's Farley Flex at Scott Collegiate

Canadian Idol's Farley Flex was at Scott Collegiate High School in Regina, Saskatchewan recently to assist Scott Principal Mr. Rod Allen, students, teachers, and Community Partners in the kick-off of a hands-on, project based educational initiative beginning in the '08-'09 school year called "Project Hip Hop".  Read all about it in the Regina Leader Post.

Click to see an original student hip hip song, "So Far So Good", created by students at Scott Collegiate 

12 Questions for School Architects and Planners; Connecting School Design to Educators, Students, and Curriculum via Project Based Service Learning

In November, 2006, in a conversation with Christian Long who, at that time was the online editor of DesignShare, I was asked the following question (Christian is also the founder of a great, eclectic blog called, think:lab):

If you had to pick a single educational technique, learning style, or pedagogy to drive the future of school design, what would it be?

My response centered immediately on Project Based Service Learning and prompted me to ask a series of 12 rhetorical essential questions in return.  The questions also became the genesis of the Guerilla Educators blog and ultimately became an article on DesignShare, a premier educational facilities website.  The questions also formed the basis of a long term, in-depth video based study centered on the merits of Project Based Service Learning as one of the most powerful and effective teaching and learning methodologies for ALL students and why school architects should design educational spaces to accommodate this type of pedagogical focus. It is my continuing hope that the article and subsequent follow up exploration of the Service Learning model will continue to help spark some vital conversation in the school design community.

Here are the questions:

Question 1: Why is Service Learning the most effective way for students to achieve mastery of curriculum and state mandated standards?

Question 2: Why is the Service Learning process the most effective way to engender good citizenship skills in all students?

Question 3: Why should school architects design educational facilities that facilitate the Project Based Learning methodology?

Question 4: Why should the school design process be used as a real-world, project-based teaching and learning strategy?

Question 5: Why is student involvement in the design process a desirable strategy for educational facilities designers?

Question 6: How can the school itself be used as a 3 dimensional textbook?

Question 7: Why should school architects see the physical facility and the teaching and learning that take place inside as a seamless continuum?

Question 8: Why should High Performance, Sustainable school design be used as a teaching and learning tool?

Question 9: Why should school architects “give back” by coming into classrooms as Community Partners to use the design process to create hands-on projects?

Question 10: What is the role of teachers in the connection of design to curriculum and students via PBL/SL?

Question 11: Why should school architects design buildings that are fun places to attend?                     

Question 12: Why does school design that will accommodate Service Learning have a positive impact on the architect's bottom line?

Click on the Questions to see the responses.

School Design Studio

We here at Guerilla Educators continue to be impressed with Dr. Jeff Lackney's School Design Studio blog.  According to Jeff, the Studio... "is dedicated to engaging clients worldwide in organizational change processes that result in creative, unique, inspiring, motivational and effective community learning environments. School Design Studio facilitates collaborative interchanges in planning, design and implementation of school designs intended to empower children, youth, parents, teachers, and surrounding community". 
In our opinion, the School Design Studio is the place to find cutting edge information and ideas about global educational facilities design trends worldwide.  Jeff is part of a growing cadre of young educational facilities designers who, in close collaboration with their client partners, create world class education-based spaces primarily designed for "hands-on", project based teaching and learning.

      

3 Questions About Project Based Learning

We here at Guerilla Educators are consistently asked 3 basic questions about the Project Based Learning methodology:

• What is Project Based Learning?

• How can educators use projects to assess mastery of curriculum?

• Where can research data be found to confirm (or deny) the effectiveness of PBL as a successful pedgogical strategy with students?

To answer these questions, we turn to the great online education magazine, "Edutopia", for assistance.  In the article, "Why Teach with Project Learning?" an article by the editorial staff defines PBL like this; Project learning, also known as project-based learning, is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups. 
To this definition, we would add that the incorporation of a Service component (i.e. Service learning) with Community Partnerships into projects models what good citizenship looks like and is a crucial element in the Project-Based teaching and learning.
For a great start to learn about how projects can be used to assess student academic progress, take a look at Eeva Reeder's students at Mountlake Terrace High School, near Seattle, Washington. 
In our view, a project's success ultimately has value to the extent that it can advance students towards mastery across a range of curricula and that this progress can be assessed.
Finally, a great place to begin investigating the growing body of research that supports the use of projects with students can be found in the Edutopia article, "PBL Research Summary: Studies Validate Project Based Learning".

Friday Free For All at Hip Hop High

Randall Fielding and Team FNI visited the High School for Recording Arts in Minneapolis/ St. Paul, with a group of educators, architects, and city planners from the Queen City of Regina, Saskatchewan. The visitors were fortunate to be at "Hip Hop High" for the "Friday Free For All", when students use the stage to debut some of their latest creative productions.  Take a look...

The visit was part of a weeklong "Journey of Discovery" in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area designed to assist the Regina Steering Committee as they work to develop a comprehensive design plan for a shared facility complex in the neighbourhood of North Central, consisting of Scott Collegiate High School and other key Regina community organizations. Team FNI recently saw Scott Collegiate students perform a hip hop song, "So Far, So Good" in Regina as part of their dinner theater production.

In addition to student participation the Science Advisor at HSRA, Ms Kelli, took the stage at the Friday Free For All and sang a wonderful rendition of "Amazing Grace".  What a way to connect with her students!  Kelli met the students "on their turf" in a respectful and self-respecting way that can only increase her effectiveness as an educator.

These videos powerfully demonstrate the value of Project Based teaching/learning.  All of the 6 Hallmarks of Effective PBSL are evident at Hip Hop High:

• Student Engagement
• Ownership
• Working Cooperatively
• Connection to Curriculum
• Citizenship
• FUN!
  

Rap at Scott Collegiate

The grand finale of the first Scott Collegiate Dinner Theater was an original rap called "So Far, So Good." The song is about life in what Macleans Magazine called "Canada's Worst Neighbourhood." The song was written by three students at Scott in response to their home's dubious (and inaccurate) "claim to fame". Take a look...

Canadian Idol's Farley Flex was at Scott Collegiate recently to assist Scott Principal Mr. Rod Allen, students and teachers in a hands-on, project based educational initiative beginning in the '08-'09 school year called "Project Hip Hop".   Read all about it in the Regina Leader Post.

To see other student created hip hop videos like this, take a look at this...

Scott Collegiate Dinner Theater

On Thursday, April 10, 2008, Scott Collegiate High School presented their first Dinner Theater.  It was a huge success on so many levels.  The program was well attended by the North Central community, the food was GREAT!, the performances were fantastic, and the whole affair was an authentic Service Learning project connected directly to student curriculum across a variety of disciplines.  WOW!, what a night.  The performances, set effectively in counterpoint to the music of "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood", were centered around the oftentimes harsh realities of life in North Central.  Topping off the entertainment was a remarkable hip-hop original song, "So Far, So Good", from Scott Collegiate students (click on the song to watch the video!).
We here at Guerilla Educators appreciated the collaborative effort on the part of teachers at Scott who worked together, not just to create a wonderful evening the entire community was proud of but especially because of the efforts to connect the Dinner Theater directly to grade appropriate teaching and learning.  Here is a partial list of the teachers and the various courses that cooperated in the production:

English A10 or B10	Mrs. Taylor
Commerical Cooking 10	Ms. Vollman
Information Processing 10	Ms. Davies
Tourism, Hospitality and Entrepreneurship 10	Mrs. Christopherson
Drama 10	Mr. Beingessner

One of the more interesting aspects of the dinner part of the evening were the chocolate favors at each table.  On each piece were poignant statements about North Central.  The idea was that the students would make people with negative ideas about their community "eat their words".  Take a look:

Students from Scott have also spoken about the process of creating the Dinner Theater and its positive effects on such things as student cooperation, classroom climate, and attendance.  Click here to see the video.

Even the programs were works of art created by the students and reflected aboriginal culture:

 

As a final touch, in the programs, students wrote their individualized appreciations of the support they received from the Scott Collegiate community. It is clear that the North Central community is well on the way to being perceived as "The Best Neighbourhood in Canada".

Extending the Vision in Regina, Saskatchewan

The Fielding Nair International design team returned to the beautiful city of Regina, in Saskatchewan, Canada to continue working with the Steering Committee there to assist in the re-design of the community of North Central.  This video documents our meeting in April, '08 that continues to refine the vision for the project.  Take a look...

As part of the design team focused on the educational aspects of the North Central project, we here at Guerilla Educators address the incredible opportunities that the re-design will have on the neighborhood by an exercise in imagining.  The list below, in no particular order, is a synthesis  of outcomes developed after listening to and working with the North Central Shared Facility Steering Committee.

Imagine…

•    Imagine teaching and learning spaces that connect directly and authentically to the community. 
•    Where students learn by addressing real-world issues that are important to them in a variety of ways. 
•    Where they have ownership in their educational processes. 
•    Where they are engaged, invested, and interested in what and how they learn. 
•    Where they achieve mastery of grade appropriate curricular objectives across a variety of disciplines. 
•    Where daily attendance and participation at their Personalized Learning Communities becomes a vital part of the student’s day (rather than the opposite being true). 
•    Where their Service Learning projects allow them to see citizenship/leadership modeled from their world-class Community Partners.
•    Where development of good citizenship skills is part of the fabric of teaching and learning and becomes critical to the long term, real-life success of our students. 
•    Where these civic skills enhance and give greater depth, context and meaning to student mastery of curriculum and standards. 
•    Where students who are working cooperatively to successfully realize the goals of a project are more inclined to negotiate with their peers and make persuasive arguments to get their point of view adopted by the group.
•     Where the cooperative nature of small groups working together for successful completion of the project has an extremely positive effect on the classroom climate and where behavior issues are significantly mitigated. 
•    Where students are motivated to succeed. 
•    Where critical thinking, hypothesis, trial and error, and extension of learning become commonplace pedagogical strategies.
•    Where teaching and learning happens in a safe, nurturing environment in the midst of a vital, active community.
•    Where law enforcement is perceived as a vital community asset and students are mentored by police officers.
•    Where the rich diversity of cultures, including First Nations, Meti, and European are mutually respected and cooperatively enhance, reinforce, and inform teaching, learning, and citizenship development in our students.
•    Where all of the Community Partners in the Shared Facility work together for the greater good and improvement in the quality of life of North Central.
•    Where technology (the no.2 pencil of the 21st century) is suffused throughout all teaching and learning initiatives.
•    Where ALL learners are expected to demonstrate proficiency at rigorous levels of literacy and numeracy –no excuses- and teachers have the resources and professional training to guide them in achieving mastery of those skills.
•    Where Business, Industry, and Government sectors actively seek out our graduates for leadership positions based on their Project Based Service Learning experiences in high school.

Now it's your turn!

Just imagine...

Charrette Compilation

This video demonstrates the powerful circular connections between the design process and authentic, real-world, Project Based Service Learning.   Student citizenship/leadership skills and mastery of curriculum across a variety of disciplines is evident in the video.  The positive effects of student participation on the design process are also demonstrated.  See also, the 5 Hallmarks of Project Based Service Learning.   

Exhibitors Hall at the 2008 School Building Expo in Chicagoland

Guerilla Educators was a key presenter at the 2008 School Building Expo.  This year's Expo was held at The Renaissance Schaumberg Hotel and Convention Center in Chicagoland.  On the second day of the Expo, we visited the Exhibition Hall where more than 100 sponsors were presenting their cutting edge products.  Take a look...

The Expo was a great success, thanks, in part, to all of the sponsors and exhibitors.

Discovery Report; Scott Collegiate High School

In September, 2007 a team from Fielding Nair International led a series of Discovery Workshops at Scott Collegiate High School in the North Central community of Regina, Saskatchewan (Download Scott_Discovery_Report.pdf).  Guerilla Educators Founder, John Sole is part of the FNI team.
The workshops consisted of a half day on site tours with school administrators, students, and North Central community partners.  The Shared Vision that came from the September workshops deal with more effectively serving the present and future needs of Scott Collegiate's students within the realities of the North Central neighborhood.  Scott's central role was affirmed within the larger context of a more inclusive community design which consists of increased community integration and participation, focused resources delivery for the Scott Collegiate family, and public health services to include physician care, midwifery, mental health and addiction services and other community outreach programs.  The consensus Essential Question that emerged from these sessions can be framed in the following way; "What does "school" mean within the rich context of an engaged and integrated community facility".  The FNI team will return to Regina in mid April, 2008 to continue dialogue and focus with the various Community Partners in North Central to prepare for an action plan going forward.

Teaching for Tomorrow

In 1997, Ted McCain wrote a groundbreaking book called, "Teaching for Tomorrow".  The book makes as strong a case for Project Based Learning as one will find.  In the foreward the architect Frank Kelly connects Mr. McCain's approach to teaching and learning with the various architecture processes.  Mr. Kelly feels that, by definition, architects work on "projects" in a very similar way that authentic Project Based Learning is conducted with students.
In Chapter 3 of the book, "Teaching Students How to Solve Problems, the author delineated the "4 D's of Problem Solving":

1. Define
2. Design
3. Do
4. Debrief

These 4 D's present a bona fide "how to" for using the Project Based pedagogy successfully with students.  Greg Cruey's blog presents a great in-depth review of Teaching for Tomorrow.  I just wanted to get a post up about this important work, even if it's a bare sketch.  More to come...

A Visit to MetEast High School

At the invitiation of David Bromley, I recently had the opportunity to visit MetEast High School, in Camden, New Jersey.  David is the "Coach" of the school.  MetEast is a "Big Picture" school in the heart of Camden and what I saw there was a beacon of hope in one of the most blighted cities in America.  One of the main tenets of Big Picture is that teaching and learning take place "one student at a time" and that philosophy was apparent everywhere at MetEast. 
Coming up; an interview with David Bromley and much more about Big Picture, here at Guerilla Educators.

Interview with Scott Kelly Featured on Igreenbuild

Check out the interview between the architect, Scott Kelly and John Sole, from Guerilla Educators. The video is currently featured on the iGreenBuild website. In the video, using the new Aerzen office/manufacturing complex as a 3 dimensional teaching and learning tool, Scott gives a virtual seminar about sustainable design in such areas as environmentally friendly landscaping, stormwater management, straw bale construction, SIPS, natural ventilation, water efficient bathroom fixtures, waterless urinals and much more..   Don't miss this!

Guerilla Educators Featured at the AIA School Building Expo

John Sole, Founder of Guerilla Educators, in association with David Schrader of SchraderGroup Architects will collaborate to present a key breakout session at the American Institute of Architects', School Building Expo to be held between April 1-3, 2008 in Chicagoland.  Our presentation, BUILDINGS FOR PROJECT-BASED LEARNING will be on the Design for Learning Track of the conference and will take place in the 4:00 breakout sessions on April 2.  According to the SBE brochure...         
"We've teamed a forward-thinking educator and advocate of project-based, team-oriented learning (Sole) with his cutting-edge architect (Schrader) to show you what the school needs to offer to promote this more interactive model of learning. They'll “dissect” several successful school buildings to show you what a teacher and a facilities expert recommend to create spaces to support the new paradigm in learning."

The Keynote Speakers for the event include Paul Goldberger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and author of six architecture books, architecture critic of The New Yorker and The New York Times; Dean of Parsons School of Design; teacher at Yale & Berkeley Schools of Architecture and Prakash Nair, an award-winning school architect, design futurist, and voice for change, Prakash Nair has created schools in 35 countries on 5 continents, and led over $10 billion in school projects from New York City to New Zealand.

If you attend one architecture based conference this year, the SBE is your choice in '08!

 

 

York Suburban School District Charrette Compilation

This video is a distillation of the 2 Day charrette at York Suburban School District. Under the auspices of SchraderGroup Architecture, participants created design concepts for the proposed site and educational facility. SchraderGroup will then take the ideas and sketches generated at the charrette, create at least two more refined design concepts, then return to YSSD for the group's consideration.

Final Presentations; Design Charrette at York Suburban School District

In this video, Dr. Kate Orban, Superintendent of York Suburban School District, Dr. Tawn Ketterman, Principal of Valley View Early  Childhood Center, and the architects David Schrader and David Mazzocco from SchraderGroup Architecture make presentations to the York Suburban design charrette participants. Their presentations will prepare the participants by giving them background information and context, setting parameters, setting out an agenda, and other particulars relative to the design issues they are about to address in the charrette.

Final Presentations; Design Charrette at York Suburban School District

In this video, charrette participants on Day 2 in the York Suburban School District present their final presentation designs for the Yorkshire Elementary School site.  SchraderGroup Architects will now take the design concepts generated by the charrette participants and create a number of designs synthesizing the concepts for the group's consideration. 

Design Charrette at York Suburban School District

This video documents Day 1 of a 2 day charrette led by the SchraderGroup Architecture team.  Dr. Kate Orban, the Superintendent of the York Suburban School District, assembled a diverse team of students, teachers, school administrators, community representatives and school board members to work with the SchraderGroup to determine the best educational use (or re-use) of the Yorkshire Elementary School site, which is currently unoccupied.  Take a look...

Sustainable Design; a Conversation with the Architect Scott Kelly

Scott Kelly, the American Institute of Architects (Philadelphia Chapter) 2007 recipient of the Young Architect of the Year award met John Sole from Guerilla Educators at Scott's latest signature green building to talk about green sustainable design and the exponential changes taking place in the world of architecture towards sustainability in the built environment. The interview takes place at Aerzen Corporation's iconic new office/industrial complex in Coatesville, PA. It is the first industrial application of straw bale design in the United States and the country's first industrial application of Earth Tubes, as well. Take a look...

With Jenn Rezeli, Scott is a co-founder of Re:Vision architecture whose philosophy is committed to restoring the balance between the natural and built environments.  In Coatesville, Aerzen Corporation is projected to receive a LEED gold or platinum designation and is a 3- dimensional textbook for sustainable design. 

Student Recycling Initiative

In this video, students at a Charter School in Philadelphia participated in a year long school-wide recycling project.  Take a look...

Students, with support from the Physical Facilities Office of the School District of Philadelphia, collected plastic, glass, aluminum, and paper and recorded the amounts taken out of Philadelphia's waste stream.  The project grew out of a District-wide Student Paper Recycling Initiative (SPRI) with the SDP John Sole created that provided training, ongoing support, and an unprecedented collaboration between the education and facilities sides of the District.  At more than 20 District schools, students educated their peers, then collected, separated, and made sure that the recyclables were disposed of in the proper manner.  Amounts of recyclables were recorded on computers then sent electronically to the appropriate facilities office.  In this way, students in participating SPRI schools, were responsible for taking an increase of over 250,000 more pounds of recyclables out of the waste stream.

The Little Cayman One Room Schoolhouse

In this video, the students in Miss Veronica Khan's classroom at Little Cayman Elementary School took Teacher John on a class trip outside of their school to locate and identify the varied flora in the immediate vicinity of their one room schoolhouse on the beautiful island of Little Cayman.  Taron, Jovian, and Justin identified many different plants, such as oleander, jasmine, rose, cactus, orchid, and the national tree of Cayman, the silver thatch palm.  Take a look... Plans are underway for the students in Miss Veronica's classroom to use teleconferencing and other means of communication to begin education related and FUN activities with their counterparts at a school in Philadelphia.  Miss Veronica and her able assistant, Miss Kerry Scott are doing wonderful work with the students in their care.

Green Architecture Project in 3rd Grade

In this video, students in 3rd grade at a charter school in Philadelphia participated in a green architecture project.  It became an integral part of a 3 day training Guerilla Educators conducted in association with the University of Wisconsin at Madison for school architects/planners/designers in the Northwest Territories of Canada.  The training took place in the town of Yellowknife. 
The students re-designed their school as a green building that incorporated at least 6 sustainable features into their models.  The project not only effectively covered a broad array of grade appropriate curricular disciplines, it also gave the students an authentic and deep understanding of practical sustainable design.   Take a look...

As with any good Service learning project, Community Partnerships played a pivotal role in the creation, implementation, and student reporting out/celebration.  Crucial support was provided by representatives from the Council of Educational Facilities Planners International (CEFPI), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Alliance to Save Energy (ASE), and the Philadelphia chapter of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

Randall Fielding, CEFPI 2007 Planner of the Year

Congratulations to Randall Fielding, CEFPI's 2007 recipient of the Planner of the Year award.  Randall is the co-founder of Fielding Nair International, one of the world's most innovative educational design companies.  Besides being a brilliant educator/architect, Randy is a genuinely good guy who really cares about students.  Warmest regards from Guerilla Educators to you, Randy on your award.  You deserve it!

Service Learning Teacher Training; Green Schools

The Alliance to Save Energy's Green Schools program is a nationwide initiative that teaches students the importance of energy conservation. In Green Schools projects, students design realtime strategies for their schools to save energy. This video documents a Green Schools training for Philadelphia educators that was given in 2003.   Take a look...

Many energy based projects were conducted in schools across the School District of Philadelphia as a result of this training.  Here is a compilation of realtime activities from a project whose teachers were part of the training in the video, above. The project took place in an inner city middle school.  Take a look...

These 2 videos show an authentic cycle from teacher training through student reporting out of a very strong Service Learning project.

Making Wine; the 2006 Vintage

Here's a toast to Uncle Tony, Peter Jay, and all the teachers of the vine who have gone to the great wine cellar in the sky.  Salud!  Cent'anni!
In early October, 2007, we bottled a very fine Cabernet Sauvignon/Old Vine Zinfandel blend.  The wine aged in a new, fine grained, American Oak barrel so there is a noticeable tannin spike that will mellow with time.  The blend is remarkably smooth for just coming out of the barrel and has about a 15% alcohol content.  With the final bottling, the wine was racked 4 times over the course of the year and has developed a color and clarity that are outstanding.  There is a pronounced cherry flavor with vanilla undertones and a slight tobacco finish.
We did a great job with this wine, if I say so myself.  As one of our long gone teachers of the fine art of winemaking used to say, "Making wine is 50% making wine and 50% keeping everything clean.  Somehow, it always fell to the young guys to uphold the cleaning part of the equation.  Click the photos to enlarge the images.

Regina Wrap-Up; In Their Own Words

In this final video from Regina, key stakeholders elucidate their hopes and visions for Scott Collegiate High School in particular and for the Regina School District as a whole.  Take a look...

School Design Patterns

This workshop session: "Design Patterns" is based on the the book, "The Language of School Design: Design Patterns for 21st Century Schools", by Prakash Nair and Randall Fielding. The book is a seminal work because it defines a new graphic vocabulary that synthesizes learning research with best practice in school planning and design. But it is more than a book about ideas. It is also a practical tool and a must-have resource for all school stakeholders involved in planning, designing and constructing new and renovated schools and evaluating the educational adequacy of existing school facilities.
Visit the Fielding Nair website to see world class examples of their design projects from around the world.

Learning Spaces in the Creative Age

In this workshop session, Randall Fielding, recipient of the CEFPI 2007 Planner of the Year award and co-founder of Fielding Nair International, continues about the Creative Age with the stakeholders in the Regina, Saskatchewan School District.  Here, he works interactively with the participants to determine what the best learning spaces will be for the new school designs in Regina.  Very compelling, out of the box stuff.

The 6 Thinking Hats

In this video, Randy Fielding uses Edward de Bono's "6 Thinking Hats" with the stakeholders in Regina, Saskatchewan as they work through  the processes of transforming the way they teach and learn in the Regina School District.  Take a look...