FROM PEN PAL TO THE PLAYGROUND

A few of us here at the office have pen pals in Ms. Anderson's 4th grade class at Rea Elementary in Costa Mesa, CA.  And while telling one pen pal about life as an architect is cool, why not use our tie to the classroom and start the next generation on a little architectural education!   

So last week Jana spent a morning teaching the young and eager minds about architects, architecture, measuring and then even giving them a design project of their own.  She went bold and started off by asking the question, "What is an architect?".  Then transitioning to much simpler topics like taking measurements and math, but not before talking about some of the other skill sets an architect might employ...that of a scientist, designer, researcher, artist, and problem solver.

And then she went analog... pulling out her triangle and scale.

While it may appear that Jana is complimenting the student on his choice of shoe style and color, this is actually where measurements went practical.  She taught them about measuring their own foot and then using that as a unit of measure.  Never done that yourself?  Well, there you go... have fun.

And, that's how we get to the playground.  After spending time talking about measurements, some simple math and planning, Jana took them outside to talk about a playground.  (And yes, this is Southern California in the Winter)  

We'll see what the students come up with for their playground.  Jana went easy on Ms. Anderson and didn't give them a deadline.  Well, back to that pen pal letter...

photos: Ms. Anderson