Four Red Deer middle school students have a once in a lifetime chance to compete with students from around the world, in a school of the future design competition.
Alison Harman, 13; Aidan Schafer, 12; Connor McCallister, 12; and Cole Webber, 13, are headed to Pittsburgh in the middle of this month to compete against two other student groups from Dayton, Ohio, and the United Kingdom in the finals of the Council for Educational Facility Planners International school of the future design competition.
The four, who attend Eastview Middle School, have been working together since mid-September to design a future school for Red Deer.
Rather than start with the design of the school itself, the group first looked at educational models different from Canada, which became the basis for the school’s design.
“We looked at international test scores and who was placing highest and it looked like Finland and South Korea were generally the best,” said Webber.
They specifically looked at Finland because they thought it was a friendlier model for students.
“They spend less time than most education systems around the world in class,” said Webber. “Where South Korea had a longer school day and more school weeks in the year. The whole atmosphere was a lot more personalized and interactive in Finland, so we thought theirs would be a better choice.”
Spending about four months developing the school, the group would work during evenings and weekends at Webber’s father’s office (he is an architect). They completed the project by Jan. 18, which was the submission date.
They named it Mamawayawin School, which in Cree means ‘living in a community.’ The school is kindergarten to Grade 8, with a proposed science centre nearby being merged with a high school.
Also incorporated into their design is an expanded aquatics centre and a new museum and art gallery for the city.
Sustainability was also worked into the school, which would use geothermal heating and solar energy, and harness waste energy from rinks to cool the buildings. On the roof of the main school facility is a green space, edged with a railing so it could double as a playground.
“I like the way we actually designed the school,” said Harman. “The exterior, the interior, the colours, the way it really suits where it is placed in Red Deer and the way the students would learn in the school as well. It would be a really neat school to go to.”
McCallister said he enjoyed taking the educational model that isn’t really known in North America and building a school around it.
Harman said they’ve had kids come up to them after they presented their school plan and ask why the school hasn’t been built already.
Webber said they are submitting to put on a workshop at the CEFPI conference in Indianapolis. As well, they are submitting a proposal to take to the Alberta minister of education on a few of the items with their school design.
“It tied together so many areas,” said Webber. “The educational model, the design component and also the sustainability we researched. It was our twist on plans the city already had.”
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com