Last year the sixth grade class was awarded a $20,000 Anchorage Parks Challenge Grant for the work they did designing a more usable space in the northwest corner of Ruth Arcand Park. This work included presenting their ideas to other community members including the Abbott Loop Church, Abbott Loop Community Council, nearby schools (Hanshew and Spring Hill), Raven’s Roost, and the Equestrian Center in the municipal park itself. Since the sixth graders did this preliminary work, the project has moved with them to seventh grade. Their work on this project has only just begun. This year, to actually receive this grant, students must continue to plan, meet with the community, fundraise, and complete the project by November 1st of next year! This is a big deal and a lot of work!!! Fortunately we have been assigned a wonderful team of professionals to help us stay on track and keep the students completely involved in the process. These individuals are from The Anchorage Park Foundation, Anchorage Parks and Recreation, National Park Service, UAF, and Earthscape (landscape architecture). In the last few weeks we have been focusing in on this project, specifically mapping and access sites (site analysis). Students have been out in the park mapping key existing trails and areas usable for particular activities (programming). They have had to evaluate all obstacles that might be encountered entering the park from crossing streets to noisy roads to steepness of terrain. They have had to consider other community members’ perspectives such as use of private land for public access or the privacy issue of a trail just outside someone’s home. As they think of these they have also been reminded to keep in mind the north/south land orientation, parking lot snow removal, trash cans and trash collection, wayfinding signage, educational signage, access for strollers or wheelchairs… This list goes on and on. On Wednesday, Elise Huggins (Landscape Architect) led the class through a design charrette focussing mainly on the access to the park. Students were challenged to collaborate on a vision developing safe access routes in three different ways and then present these ideas to the class. This first stage allowed ALL ideas to be incorporated. Upcoming workshops with Elise will be focused on identifying the potential obstacles to the grand plans students have created. This way students can prepare their talking points for community members like the Abbott Loop Church and Community Council - two entities whose support will critically affect the success of this project. Stay tuned to see how these plans develop, how the community responds, and how these students handle the demands of this project on a public playing field! Comments are closed.
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Sarah Mariner
Ms. Mariner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science from Colorado State University, and was awarded a teaching certificate through the University of Alaska, Southeast. Her varied background includes being an environmental education field instructor in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Baja, Mexico. She also served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. Archives
April 2021
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