Educational Sessions

Saturday, October 24, 2015, 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM

Back to the Future ‘School’

Kelly Tanner, BrainSpaces | Connextions
Amy Yurko, AIA, BrainSpaces, Inc
Jim Brady, AIA, ALEP, Page

Grande Ballroom

For many of us, our first glimpse of “life in the future” came in the form of hover boards, flying cars, video conferencing, giant wide-screen televisions, wireless video games and self-lacing shoes. Thanks to Back to the Future II, in 1989 we are able to envision a day in the life for Marty McFly on October 21, 2015 and contemplate the ripple effect one individual can have on our futures. So now that we are present in our future, what are the predictions for the next 10, 20, 30 years? What are the predictions for education? Whose better to write this future of learning story than the students themselves. In this session, you will hear the ideas and insights from over 50 high school students from the San Diego Met. Several will be on-site to share their personal predictions and research on roles, mobility, culture, student-centered, access, grade structure and advancement, etc. After the presentations, both students and attendees will breakout into smaller groups, explore the depths of our creatively and discuss the impact of their foresights on the physical learning environments. Hint: you can think beyond our current definition of a ‘school.’

Learning Objectives:

Understand the power and strength of a student’s perspective of their own learning.
Gain awareness of emerging educational approaches and the future of learning.
Explore the dialogue of learning and the physical environments.
Understand the basic elements of learning.

1 LU

1 CE

Creating Modern Learning Environments in Southern New Zealand

Philip Gilchrist, Philip Gilchrist Architect Ltd.

Marina 6

People all over the world today are looking to change learning institutions to become 21st Century, modern learning environments. New Zealand’s Ministry of Education is focused on having a world-leading education system that equips all New Zealanders with the knowledge, skills and values to be successful citizens in the 21st-century, the physical environment plays a key role in this vision. This presentation will give a brief overview of the New Zealand Governments plans to create modern learning environments and the framework that has been established to implement this. It will focus on one practices approach to delivering modern learning environments with the practices strong underlying design principals of connectivity and flexibility. It will look at the importance of creating varied and interesting space, together with the importance of light and innovation to create the modern learning environments. The presentation will focus on four projects, three schools and a church, in southern New Zealand: Andersons Bay School, Learning Centre. Blue Mountain College, Classroom Modernization. George Street Normal School Learning Centre. Dunedin City Baptist Centre. Each project will review the journey and look at the resulting changes that have occurred since the implementation of the project.

Learning Objectives:

Understand what is meant by the term “Modern Learning Environment”. Although the term is widely used, it should be much more than just creating new breakout spaces.
Explore the ideas of connectivity and flexibility and see how these ideas have driven the design.
Review and evaluate the changes that have occurred to the communities since implementing the projects.
See how existing facilities can be transformed and the sustainable advantages to do this.

1 LU

1 CE

High Impact Learning Environments

William (Bill) Latham, III, ALEP, Contrax Furnishings
Amy Yurko, AIA, BrainSpaces, Inc.

Nautilus 3

A High Impact Learning environment is a space that increases student engagement and academic achievement. Through creating a learning space that enables collaborative learning and creativity, these HILEs are designed to fit the educational needs of 21st century learners. Our course immerses attendees in the research changing educational practices. Includes case studies, interactions and simulations to challenge traditional thinking. Addresses planning, materials, research and relationships to show how they impact health, welfare and interactions of the people in schools. The content assists architects and designers to communicate effectively with schools and personnel. Attendees will be challenged to design learning spaces that compliment national common core standards. It also addresses the impact of light, fresh air and human movement in the educational process.

Learning Objectives:

Knowledge of the current research on how we learn.
Appreciation for how the current generation prefers to learn.
Insight into the soft skills employers want from workers.
Identify a high impact learning environment, and discuss the interrelation of learning and environment.

1 LU

1 CE

Influences from the Outside: How School Planner Can Benefit When Advisory Boards, Research Universities and Government Funding Agencies Together Discuss Points of Views

Christina Joy Hoehn, Edmond Public Schools
Lisa Holiday, University of Oklahoma, College of Architecture
Hans Peter Wachter, University of Oklahoma, College of Architecture

Nautilus 1

This session will explore the processes involved in government funded research on school design and how the participating constituencies contribute to the process of school planning with the goal to develop a decision making tool for design. The session will include a discussion lead by the research team. Research that is exploring the trade-offs between indoor air quality, structural hardening, sustainability and the EPA’s research process to find best practices.

Learning Objectives:

Learn the processes involved to create research relationships between government research funding agencies, research universities, investigators and planners familiar with the design and construction of schools
Learn and the benefits that are available to school district officials and school boards who seek to make building design decisions for new schools or school renovations.
Learn why parents, teachers, students and school district officials have ongoing discussions about healthy and highly performing schools and what they want them to be as a viable part of their communities.
Learn how to gain a stronger definition of the trade-off concerning sustainability and environmental quality for students.

1 HSW

1 CE

Managing IAQ During Building Upgrades: EPA’s Energy Savings Plus Health Guide and North Penn SD Implementation Case Study

Michele Curreri, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Kudret Utebay, The Cadmus Group, Inc.
Tom Schneider, North Penn School District

Nautilus 4

Building upgrades and energy efficiency goals should never compromise occupant health and safety. When energy efficiency and IAQ projects are integrated and addressed holistically, schools can achieve strong results in both areas, with the two goals working together to reduce energy costs and improve occupant health. U.S. EPA’s new Energy Savings Plus Health: Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for School Building Upgrades (the Guide) will support design teams, school administrators, energy/facility managers, and all other stakeholders in planning an upgrade or construction project that improves IAQ, promoting education and better student performance, while saving energy and money. This session will introduce the Guide and deliver a framework for ensuring better indoor environments while reaching long-term health, cost and sustainability goals. The Guide includes IAQ assessment protocols and recommended actions in 23 priority issues, and the Master Verification Checklist (pdf) and Energy Savings Plus Health Checklist Generator (MS Excel). Managing these IAQ-related issues may pose a challenge to already-busy school officials, and the Guide can be considered as a time-saver tool, helping the user develop a custom verification checklist that identifies tailored assessment protocols and recommended actions. The session will feature the proven IAQ and energy management strategies of an EPA-recognized school district: North Penn’s energy management program has saved the District over $5.5 million since 2008, while also protecting IAQ. In recognition of successful implementation of energy and IAQ plans, the District has received the 2009 EPA Tools for Schools Leadership Excellence Award, the ENERGY STAR Leaders recognition for 20% (2012) and 30% (2013) portfolio-wide energy use reduction, the 2013 and 2014 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year award, and the 2015 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence award for energy management. This part of the session will discuss North Penn’s energy management practices, how IAQ concerns are incorporated in efficiency improvements and other building retrofits, and best practices and methods for implementing IAQ improvement measures during these upgrades. While understanding the importance of energy efficiency and healthy indoor environments is simple, leveraging the support and organizing faculty, staff, and students, to work to put these ideas into practice can take some work. This session will demonstrate not only what measures must be taken to protect occupant health and reduce energy costs, and why these measures are important, but will also provide tried-and-true approaches to implementing these IAQ management practices. Session pertains to energy efficiency of buildings, as well as occupant safety (improved health outcomes through improved energy-related building retrofits and construction.

Learning Objectives:

Learn from tried-and-true approaches used at North Penn School District to implementing building upgrades with energy efficiency and IAQ issues in mind.
Gain a deeper understanding of the EPA Energy Savings Plus Health: IAQ Guidelines for School Building Upgrades to facilitate the decision-making process for building upgrades that positively affect energy performance and health.
Gain familiarity with school IAQ principles and frameworks and recognize how energy efficiency and occupant health can be related, not mutually exclusive, goals.
Learn how to use the Energy Savings Plus Checklist Generator to create customized checklists for building upgrade projects.

1 HSW

1 CE

The Critical Investment Into Outdoor Education: An Investment Too Valuable to Ignore

Dennis McCreary, Northwest Independent School District
Lynn Braswell, Northwest Independent School District
Terry Hoyle, AIA, Stantec

Nautilus 5

Outdoor education has long been an area where educators have been able to introduce the sciences to students at an early age. Students typically have gone on day field trips or to overnight “camps” to explore much of the wonder that the outdoors have to offer. While this has been an opportunity for some, providing this opportunity for students for most schools systems have either never been practical or are becoming ever-more difficult with growing populations and the related costs for education. This presentation will use an actual outdoor learning center as an example to to meet and go beyond the normal expectations for outdoor learning. Northwest Independent School District, is a Texas school district of nearly 235 square miles with projections of 30,000 students within the next 8 years. Northwest ISD is quickly evolving from a rural district into one that is very much a suburb. Opportunities for engaging the outdoors are dwindling. NISD addressed the costs and lost opportunities head-on by investing in the creation of its own outdoor learning center on 193 rural acres. With a capacity of 500 students per day, the center allows all students to use the center throughout the year. Curriculum is tailored to all grades and all core subjects. Standardized curriculum is used for each grade while customized curriculum is overlaid to accommodate project specific activities. In addition to providing valuable learning for the students, the center educates teachers in how to deliver engaged, hands-on, project-based learning. Because the district serves 14 towns, the OLC also serves as a center for the communities and its businesses. To better serve the students and communities, the center is currently undergoing a $17 million transformation to improve and expand its facilities, nature trails, and opportunities for engaged teaching and learning. The buildings will be used as teaching tools and is anticipated to achieve LEED platinum and Net Zero Ready.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to compare costs between sending kids to camp versus operating an outdoor learning center
Participants will be able to envision the opportunities possible when running your own outdoor education center
Participants will begin to imagine how to partner with others to make an outdoor learning center a reality
Participants will see how physical improvements to their center can add value to their programs