Northwest/Arctic Region project team reaches out to local students
The General Services Administration’s Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) modernization project team in Portland, Oregon, has engaged local middle and high school students in a unique outreach program that is bringing the massive construction project to life. Through the School-based Outreach Program area middle and high school students are participating in interactive educational programs to learn about this historic green modernization project. Students are experiencing hands-on learning about universal/green design, construction, technology, and civic engagement.
The program provides students a living curriculum and real world connections and learning from area professionals in fields such as architecture, construction, and government service. The students from Architecture, Construction & Engineering (ACE) Academy, a charter school for 11th and 12th graders interested in pursuing degrees in this field, are learning about the Building Information Modeling used on the EGWW project.
As part of their work, the ACE students are building a 3 foot, to scale, model of the EGWW building. Seventh and eighth grade students from the Metropolitan Learning Center are focusing on the accessibility in design, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and how the EGWW Federal building will be made more accessible for all. Students from all four classes have conducted a construction site visit to the EGWW federal building. In addition representatives from the project team have visited the schools for talks and some students are shadowing team members.
All the students will be returning the project sometime in April to share what they learned.
The School-based Outreach Program was developed by Lois D. Cohen Associates, a small, woman-owned communications company, in partnership with GSA, Howard S. Wright, the prime contractor, Sera Architects, and the EGWW Project Labor Agreement Management Council. The schools were selected based on their curricular focus. Contact: Stephanie Kenitzer (253) 931-7873.
