A University of Colorado at Boulder program that brought college students and architects into Boulder Valley middle schools to teach architecture has won the 1998 Award of Excellence and Innovation from the American Association for Career Education.
In a collaborative effort between the Boulder Valley School District and ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder, architect Kim Saporito led teams of graduate and undergraduate architecture majors in developing an architecture curriculum for use in middle school applied technology classrooms. Formerly known as "shop," the classrooms provide exploratory, hands-on, career-oriented activities for students.
¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder students refined the curriculum over a three-year period (1995-1997), and some version of it is in use in all of the district's 12 middle schools.
The curriculum involves a four-level sequence of activities, designed to challenge students at different levels. Activities range from a "starter" program that teaches the simplest foundations of architecture to a "capstone" activity in which the most motivated and gifted students have the opportunity to complete advanced sketch models, conduct space planning and design an open-ended "adventure center."
Saporito said university students worked closely with classroom teachers and students from diverse communities to bring authenticity, accountability and motivation to each task. "Our goal was to give students a sense of the beauty, the real work and the community-building nature of architecture," she said.
Instructional technology director Len Scrogan, who coordinated the project for the school district, noted that the development of a curriculum ensures that the learning activities will be available to students year after year.
Other educators involved in the program included Greg Peters, Jeff Leonard, Ken Sherman, Sheryl Arndt, Mike Dreeger, Abe Maestas, Don Haywood, Jill Lester, David Clark, Brian Kane, Gil Blea, Mike O'Neill, Scott Dixon and Ray Mueller.
The program was one of three career initiatives nationally to catch the eye of AACE this year. The other winning programs are based in Ohio and Texas.
"These programs represent the current focus on exemplary career education," said AACE President Pat Nellor Wickwire.