Sunday, June 5, 2016

CRES Girls Learn to be Architects!


A very special group of 2nd grade girls from Central Riverside took part in “I can be…an Architect,” managed and organized by my fellow art educator, Ayonna Patterson, a community advocate for educational opportunities for girls.

The purpose of this career day workshop was to give a basic understanding of the Architecture profession and to inspire girls to dream about what they can become. 

 
The first stop on our trip was to “Breaking Ground,’ a construction company owned and run by women! The “junior architects” studied blueprints for buildings, learned about “green construction” and visited the roof to explore a rooftop garden.



Reading blueprints

Learning about the rooftop garden


Next stop: the Karpeles Manuscript Museum where students were treated to a day of creative design! Wearing pink hard hats, the girls sat at tables to plan a dream house design assisted by a real architect/volunteer!  Each girl created a floor plan by cutting out room modules and affixing them onto graph paper. After a pizza lunch, they were presented with a bag full of children’s books, creative tools and other goodies.



Much thanks to AIA, a local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, FAMU School of Architecture and Ms. Ayonna Paterson, director and organizer of this fantastic event!
Ayonna Patterson, Event Organizer