Citizen Schools
In the last seven years, more than 30 members of Boston's planning and design community have shared their expertise through Citizen Schools, a unique apprenticeship-based, after-school education program in Boston. Citizen Schools is revolutionizing how children spend their out-of-school time -- through fun, challenging, hands-on apprenticeships that unite volunteer Citizen Teachers and small groups of children, ages 9 to 14. The apprenticeships challenge kids and adults alike to gain skills and understanding while creating products and performances that add value to the community.
As Citizen Teachers, Boston planners and designers work in teams to develop programs that turn 9- to 14-year-olds into designers and planners in projects that range from making recommendations for inclusion in the Boston Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan for the Roxbury community to redeveloping an abandoned MBTA building to exploring design solutions for the Big Dig surface. Citizen Schools has worked closely with the Boston Society of Architects to recruit BSA members to teach these hands-on, learning-based apprenticeships. Citizen teachers work closely with experienced on-site staff during the apprenticeships and receive training and support throughout the program.
For kids, there's nothing like feeling the burst of pride and self-confidence when an adult looks at their work and says, "Wow!" At Citizen Schools, "wow" is what students produce through their apprenticeships: high-quality, real-world products or performances that add value to the community -- from a gourmet meal prepared and served at a neighborhood fair to a puppet show performed for patients in a children's hospital to a new website designed for their own school.
In the case of the design and planning projects, the students presented their work to the Boston Redevelopment Authority's Chief Planner Rebecca Barnes, developers from Spaulding and Sly Colliers, and community members in various neighborhoods where their work focused on contributing to community-based planning initiatives. These apprenticeships have been so successful that Citizen Schools is in the process of developing an ongoing series of apprenticeships titled "Kids Design Boston's Future" that will culminate in citywide events.
Lesia Ilnytzky, an architect at Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbot writes: "As Citizen School teachers, we entered this program for many reasons, from receiving IDP credits, to gaining experience teaching architecture to just interacting with children. What we got out of it was much more: the student pride and excitement about architecture and how they could better their community through their designs made us want to work harder for them to feel proud of their accomplishments."
A group of volunteers from the Boston-based Planners Collaborative worked with a group of apprentices from the Dever Schools in Dorchester to make recommendations to the Harbor Point Community Task Force. Dever School is located across the street from the ground-breaking Harbor Point Community in Dorchester. This unique community represents one of the first attempts at the privatization of public housing and at establishing a mixed-income development. The apprentices worked with planners from the Planner's Collaborative to survey residents, gather key data about community needs, and then make recommendations to a newly formed community task force.
Meg Hazen, Assistant Project Manager with Spaulding & Slye Colliers -- along with Rob Dickey, principal, and Chris Bell, assistant project manager, also from Spaulding & Slye --worked with 11- to 13-year-olds to design the redevelopment of an abandoned MBTA building. Hazen says of the experience: "In addition to getting to know some pretty great kids, volunteer teachers have the opportunity to influence students' educational and career paths, introduce subject matters that leave students wanting to know more, and motivate them to pursue their new interests. But above all, as volunteer teachers we came away amazed at what a child can do."
Brandon Bird, a designer with Chan Krieger & Associates, worked with apprentices from the Dorchester Community Campus to design an "ideal" living space. During this 10-week program, the children visited the Piano Guild in the South End and learned about the history of the building and the conversion to artist live-work space. Bird engaged the children in discussions about a variety of design projects because, he said, "It helped the kids not only determine how to design their own 'ideal' living space, but present it to others." For the "wow" component in this project, the children and Bird created a casual review atmosphere where visitors were presented with the work created by each apprentice. They also presented information on the existing apartment within the historic Piano Guild.
The focus of Citizen Schools Apprenticeships Program is on preparing students for leadership roles in the 21st century. To achieve this goal, Citizen Schools has identified four important objectives for students' success:
* Strengthen academic skills
* Develop personal leadership skills
* Enable access to resources
* Build community connections
Citizen Schools is currently completing a major expansion from five Boston-based campuses in 1998 to 12 in 2001 and 15 by 2003. In addition, Citizen Schools is launching Citizen Schools University (CSU), a national curriculum development and training center dedicated to strengthening the after-school sector. Through CSU, we are sharing our best ideas nationwide through the fall 2002 launch of Citizen Schools affiliate campuses in San Jose, California; Houston, Texas; and Worcester and Framingham, Massachusetts.
Citizen Schools envisions a day when most of the nation's 88,000 schools reopen after school, on weekends, and in the summer, for experiential learning opportunities that powerfully link children and schools to the larger community.
