At the College of Environment and Design, students run the show at Clarke County School District’s Experience UGA field trips to the college. Led by the Center for Community Design and Preservation and Georgia Students of Landscape Architecture, CED students forge connections with local Athens-Clarke County high schoolers.
On two Fridays in November, the halls of the Jackson Street Building buzzed with more activity than normal for the end of the week. Amidst scheduled studios, lectures and meetings, the College of Environment and Design opened its doors to over 200 visitors–local Clarke County School District (CCSD) 10th graders.
On Nov. 7 and 14, 10th grade students from Clarke Central High School and Cedar Shoals High School spent the day at the CED as part of Experience UGA, a partnership program between the University of Georgia, the UGA Office of Service-Learning (OSL) and CCSD that strives to bring every student in the district to UGA’s campus for an educational field trip each year.
“Seven years ago, OSL convinced me that CED had an opportunity to create an eye-opening field trip by showcasing the only landscape architecture program in the state,” said Jennifer Lewis, director of the Center for Community Design and Preservation. “For students who are good at art and science, enjoy being outside, but don’t know how to turn those interests into a career, these field trips can plant the seeds of possibility right when they’re just starting to imagine life after high school.”
The field trips are designed to connect 10th grade learning standards with key skills taught in the CED’s programs– design thinking, problem solving, history and creative expression. Each module is run by current CED students, which give CCSD students a glimpse into college life directly from college students themselves.
“I didn’t know that I specifically wanted to go into Landscape Architecture, I just knew that I wanted to do something creative,” said first year BLA student Jacob Mitchum to Cedar Shoals High School students. “As you can see in the studios, you have a lot of freedom with what you can do in class.”
Cedar Shoals High School students participate in Jackson Street Building modules. From left to right: CSHS students compete in the tower-building design competition; BLA student Michael Niedzwiecki-Castile talks to students during studio tours; CSHS students observe BLA work on the pin-up spaces.
On the CED’s field trip, the CCSD students get a look at studio life during a tour of the Jackson Street Building, sharpen their design skills during a tower-building exercise and a guided hand graphics session, and develop an eye for preservation on a historic North Campus tour.
“It’s so valuable for [the CCSD students] to have a chance to talk with and relate to college students and to view higher education as a worthwhile and attainable endeavor,” said fourth-year BLA student Treasa McHugh, a volunteer for the field trips. “On top of that, it’s an added bonus to share with them all that I love about landscape architecture and reach students who might consider pursuing that field in the future.”
Cedar Shoals High School students participate in the hand-graphics module. In the module, students get a chance reimagine an outdoor space at their high school. Fourth-year BLA student Treasa McHugh, middle, has volunteered for the hand graphics module since her freshman year at the CED.
For McHugh, volunteering on the Experience UGA field trips is a full-circle experience. Six years ago, McHugh was a Clarke Central high schooler on the same CED field trip.
“Being from Athens, it’s the perfect opportunity for me to give back to the community that raised me,” said McHugh. “But even for UGA students from farther away, it’s a great chance to make a positive impact on the town that supports their university and makes it such a great place to be.”
Second-year Master of Landscape Architecture student Tatyanna Fry volunteered for the field trips after learning that many local Athens communities may feel intimidated to visit campus. During her undergraduate years at UGA, Fry participated in a play adapted from a doctoral dissertation that explored inequities between the surrounding city of Athens and the university campus.
“A central theme of that work was how little the university recruits in its own backyard compared to other parts of Georgia,” said Fry. “Understanding the importance of inspiring local high school students to visit campus and imagine themselves there made me want to participate in Experience UGA, and I was grateful for the opportunity to do so.”
Cedar Shoals High School students on a tour of UGA’s North Campus. From left to right: Students participate in a biodiversity-web activity, matching plants and animals that interact with each other; historic preservation students give a tour of the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building; MHP students lead football drills on Herty Field, the location of UGA’s first football field.
For Clarke Central teacher Enya Granados, watching her students visualize themselves as college students is a large takeaway from the trip. This fall, Granados’ students worked projects that combined urban planning and landscape architecture– both core CED disciplines.
“I have multiple students who have been saying, ‘I want to go to college now,’” said Granados. “That always warms my heart to hear.”
Learn more about the CED’s Experience UGA field trips, and how to get involved, here.
