Drawing by Diane Akula
Landscape Design student
Landscape Institute/BAC
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CDRC-Boston client DC Haley Pilot Elementary School receives Kirk Meyer Schoolyard Award
The Boston Schoolyard Initiative announced last week that the Dennis C. Haley Pilot Elementary School has been awarded the first Kirk Meyer Schoolyard Award for best integration of its schoolyard into the life and fabric of the school and community. “We appreciate the award and care deeply about our students and community,” said Principal Ross Wilson. “We have phenomenal plans from the Community Design Resource Center of Boston (CDRC-Boston) to take this project to the next level.”
Although the school’s outdoor space was renovated by the Boston Schoolyard Initiative in 1999, additional landscape plans were developed this past year by CDRC-Boston’s volunteer design consultants Paul Simon and Diane Akula. “The Haley School Project was a collaborative effort between parents, teachers, school administrators, Mass Audubon, and CDRC volunteers,” said Paul Simon, Landscape Architect on the project. “When the site is finally developed, it will be exciting to see the transformation of these green-design initiatives into a green-learning environment where inner-city elementary students have an opportunity to directly engage in the pursuit of outdoor learning.”
CDRC-Boston forms teams of both professional and student volunteers to provide pro bono architectural design services to community organizations and public agencies whose populations are traditionally underserved. “The Haley School's enthusiasm and vision for their outdoor spaces was infectious,” said Diane Akula, landscape design student at the Landscape Institute.
“The Community Design Resource Center of Boston is honored to have had the chance to work with such talented designers as Paul Simon and Diane Akula,” said Landscape Designer and CDRC-Boston Board Member Amanda Sloan. “The dedicated staff and community at the Haley School, including Principal Ross Wilson, provided a warm welcome and thoughtful input both to CDRC and the design team as the project progressed. It is a textbook case of great community design! My hope is that through attracting a funder, this great design can be brought to fruition for the students.”
CDRC-Boston Technical Design Service
CDRC-Boston’s Technical Design Service provides nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and community groups pro bono preliminary architectural design assistance to help strengthen fundraising efforts and to assist communities to envision and contribute to the development of their own neighborhoods.
Original press release: http://www.bostonpublicschools.org/node/3757 |
