During this project, we were lucky enough to have freedom to be able to design a new school. In this project, we were put into a group of three or four other people. Before we started to prototype, we learned and practiced skills that we would need to use during the project. We learned how to use Sketchup and we read insightful article about architecture and how it affects people. After we had gained the background knowledge that we needed, we started our first prototype. At the end of the project it was required to have a budget for your shared space design, a whole school design blueprint, shared space renderings and blueprints, and a proposal about your idea. Then, once the whole grade had their ideas combined onto one 24”x42” poster we voted for the best ones. In August the board of Animas High School will be pulling a couple groups aside to talk to them about their design. Their design could potentially be incorporated into a new building in the future.
I have learned so much during this project, I have learned about Sketchup, design thinking, and proficient ways to build buildings. But through this design thinking protocol we went through, I learned one of the most important lessons of my life. PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES. I went into this project thinking that everything would be perfect for my group members and I. However nobody is perfect, so through this human designed project, I learned how to be patient with my group members, to organize myself, and complete my portion of the project. For example, one of my group members took over three days to complete only one of the elements, through that I learned to be patient. I am so glad that we had the opportunity for this project because I can use everything that I learned in the future.
The biggest thing that stood out for me in this project was how much freedom we had. We usually have a lot of freedom at AHS, but this project in particular opened so many paths you could take. Even though I loved having lots of freedom, it isn’t always the best for group work because everyone has great ideas that are so different. I wish that I would’ve spent more time on our whole school design because I think that we could’ve added more refinement to it. We had an amazing design in mind, but once we started to think about it and make the scale model we couldn’t go through with the idea. After we were stuck on where to go with the idea, one of my group members decided to take it home and restart. This helped a lot but we couldn’t put in input to the overall design. I think that my group did really well with full participation because we were all open about sharing our ideas and we weren’t afraid to hold back from giving feedback. This is evident when we already had a plan for the whole school layout but then one of my group members thought of a new idea and he didn’t hold back from sharing it.
I think that it is very important that students have a say in what their schools look like because we spend so much time there. If we can’t feel comfortable in our education environment, than we can’t do our best in school. I feel this exact way when I am in a dark and cold classroom, I can’t do my best and that has been shown through results from tests that I took in that class. Also, Animas has a hard time getting the students to respect their school. I think that if we have a beautiful school, the students will do everything they can to help it stay that way.