EPICS: Engineering Projects in Community Service
Groundwork Somerville is the community partner of the Prospect Hill Academy Charter School EPICS program, or Engineering Projects in Community Service, originally developed by Purdue University for college freshmen. Senior engineering students at PHA design and build projects to benefit the community in the spirit of Groundwork Somerville’s mission. In past years, they have built gardens, and in 2009 assisted with the construction of Somerville’s first green roof, on a mixed-use, mixed-income development built by the Somerville Community Corporation. In partnership with the generous Somerville-based firm Apex Green Roofs, these teens worked on the leading edge of green technology and design. In this year’s project, students will build on that experience with living architecture by creating a prototype green bus shelter, as well as teaching nutrition to elementary after school students.
