Young architects at Martin L. Nesbitt, Jr. Discovery Academy are hard at work on a proposal for even younger clients - the fourth graders of Johnston Elementary School.
The high school students are working with elementary classes to develop plans to enhance Johnston’s outdoor classroom space. Ideas at a recent brainstorming session included a chicken coop shaped like a rocket ship, a greenhouse with rainbow-colored windows, and a waterfall garden.
“We’ve got some pretty creative interpretations happening here,” said Nesbitt student Nathaniel McElrath, who has been working with the Johnston team on greenhouse designs. “We’ve got shower heads that look like daisies, and other unique finishes they’ve suggested for the project.”
The Nesbitt students are in Craig Orange’s Civil Engineering and Architecture class. He says this experience gives them a taste of working with clients and adjusting designs based on their wants and needs.
“The idea is for our students to work with the Johnston kids and extract their vision,” Orange explained. “After today, my students will take the kids’ visions, create colored renderings, polish up the presentations, and deliver them back to Johnston Elementary.”
Members of the Rotary Club of Asheville Metro and the Rotary Club of Asheville South also watched the students collaborate. The clubs are working together on a grant that could supply funding to help the plans on paper become spaces that really exist on the Johnston campus.
The Johnston students also got a chance to see possibilities for their own future, touring Nesbitt and learning what a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) school is all about.
“I think it’s great to show younger kids what they can be doing when they’re in high school,” said Nesbitt junior Evan Caywood. “I think it gives them a chance to see the type of classes they can take and what the environment is like here at Nesbitt.”
Families are invited to visit Johnston Elementary's current outdoor classroom areas at its STEAM Night Celebration (the “A” adds the element of “art”) on May 21 from 5:30 to 7pm. Activities include making tie-dye shirts and marshmallow towers, along with building boats and catapults.