Last evening was the second meeting of the team that will work with
DLR, our architects, to create the educational specifications leading to the design of our proposed new regional learning center. The primary focus was to brainstorm and document a day (24 hours) in the life of a high school student twenty years in the future. Five teams comprised of students, staff, and community members engaged in the work and presented their finished products. Each team had a mix of humor and progressive thinking that will influence our conversations as the work moves forward.
I heard two themes emerge in the presentations that we must consider as we make decisions on a building design that will need to meet the learning needs of students for the next fifty years. The first is flexibility and the second is personalized learning. I look forward to seeing how these themes and others to follow will come alive in the design and to watching this team of dedicated people use their experience, creativity, and vision to support this effort. We are truly blessed with their commitment to this work.
1 comment:
Mr. Maryanski,
This is very exciting news! I am so pleased to hear that the Tahoma school district administrators and focus groups are stretching their minds and ideas of public education to find new and creative ways to meet the educational needs of all of our children moving forward. I would propose utilizing the experts you already have at your disposal within the district. There are folks already employed by the district who have a working knowledge and a passion for creating flexible, unique, and personalized learning opportunities that can meet the needs of each individual. Alternatives to the traditional classroom model in the current public education system are a specialty of the staff at Russell Ridge Center. The combined expertise and experience of this group would be an amazing asset to your current team. As we teach our children about history in hopes they will learn from the successes and mistakes of those who have come before them; we have the opportunity to teach through example by utilizing the knowledge of those who have tread upon this path we now travel. I hope you call upon them as they are passionate about this topic and can offer so much knowledge and experience. It would be a shame not to utilize this precious resource. Thank you so much for the work you do for our schools and community. ~Rosemary Shuh~
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