Future Is Bright

The passion and creativity of several students is proof that amazing things are going to happen.

  • By Deborah P. Moore
  • 10/01/13

So often we hear about how our education system is failing, how we are not keeping pace with other countries, how our schools are putting the future of our country in jeopardy. All that I have to say to those who believe the hype is, you are wrong.

Last week at the Council of Educational Facility Planners, International (CEFPI) conference, I was fortunate enough to meet two high school students from Alaska, Ariel Hasse and Zachary Neubauer, who showed me just how bright our future can be. Ariel is currently a junior at Mat Su Career and Technical High School in Alaska. Zac, a high school senior, also attends the University of Alaska, Anchorage fulltime. Ariel and Zac presented their project called High School of the Future, a competition where students across the globe are asked to, “bring their own brand of creativity to the planning and design process” and design the dream high school of the future.

As they put it, “the story of High School of the Future begins with a group of dysfunctional, overly motivated students who decided to turn their summer into a memorable and exciting adventure.” Ariel had participated in CEFPI’s Middle School of the Future program, but winning that competition wasn’t enough — it ignited a passion. That, with the help of Zac, Courtney Monroe and a few friends, was the start of their own competition — High School of the Future. They developed the criteria for the competition, a website, futurehighschool.org/home.html, a video explaining the program, relationships with mentors and partnerships to help with funding the program.

It may have started as “their” project, but it is now open to high school students across the globe. In fact, they even suggested that the members of a team could be from different schools or even countries. Registration for their 2014 competition opened Sept. 20, with submissions due Feb. 7, 2014.

Meeting these students, listening to their thought process, and seeing what they accomplished was truly amazing. Many of those who saw their presentation asked the students if they were interested in coming to work for their company. For me, the question was… “can I come and work for you!” If students like this are our future, then the future is bright!

This article originally appeared in the School Planning & Management October 2013 issue of Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • New Kent State Academic Building Earns LEED Silver Certification

    Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently announced that its newest academic building, Crawford Hall, has earned a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The facility was recognized for its innovative design, water conservation technologies, energy-efficient systems, and sustainable construction materials, among other features.

  • California Boarding School Opens New Inquiry Collaborative Facility

    Cate School, a boarding school in Carpinteria, Calif., for students grades 9–12, recently announced that it has finished renovating a historic dining hall into a new academic hub, according to a news release. The school partnered with Blackbird Architects and Tangram Interiors on the two-story, 16,000-square-foot Inquiry Collaborative.

  • KI Launches K–12 Classroom Furniture Giveaway

    Contract furniture company KI recently announced the launch of its fourth-annual Classroom Furniture Giveaway, which awards $50,000 each to four K–12 educators across the U.S., according to a news release. The goal is to address decreasing student engagement and increasing teacher burnout numbers by updating learning spaces to accommodate modern needs.

  • Three U.S. Universities Install Acre Security Access Control Platform

    Cloud-native physical and digital security solutions company Acre Security recently announced that it has deployed its access control platform at three major universities in the U.S., according to a news release. Acre partnered with Atrium Campus to provide coverage for more than 69,000 students at the University of Virginia (UVA), George Mason University, and Rockhurst University.