The Park School on the North side of Baltimore is the only K-12 school on our itinerary, so we knew it would be unique. Presenting design to students as young as six is eye-opening, both for the students and for us as designers, to see through their untainted eyes how design has (or does not have) impact.
The Park School is an amazing institution. A private school, its teachers have some liberty in teaching what they want, outside of the rigidity of publicly mandated curricula, which means students have learned about sustainability through real projects, and have access to an incredible art gallery which currently features pieces from digital photographer Chris Jordan. Students learn through exploration and experience: one of the fifth grade classes I spoke to said they save their food scraps for their teacher’s chickens.
Our schedule was insane, with full classes of anywhere from 15-30 students back-to-back in 30 minute chunks. We met with 5th and 6th graders first, who were by far the rowdiest over the course of the day, but also brought a critical eye to the work without losing a childlike innocence that inspired blunt and observant comments such as “That thing is cool. It helps people who have… issues” (speaking about the Boezels toy for children with Down syndrome, without any prior explanation). While we worried about the NYC Condom Dispenser on the back wall and how we might explain its use to the younger children, the 5th and 6th graders stepped right in and said, “It keeps adults safe during sexual intercourse.”
Our next group was a 4th grade class, who were the most inquisitive not only about the products but where they could get them. Several students asked me for websites for where they could buy things online, including the XO Laptop and DIY soccer ball tape, and said they were “making up their Christmas lists.” One of the 4th graders asked how the SinkPositive toilet top water saver worked, and before I had even begun explaining, he said, “Oh, nevermind, I get it. The water goes up there first and you wash your hands, and then that water goes into the bowl so you use less water, right?” One other student in the 4th grade class renamed the Solio charger the “Solar Flower” and noted how beautiful he thought it would look in his family’s garden.
The 2nd grade classes that followed were by far the loudest, as the young students flooded the trailer and were screaming with questions and excitement. I tried to keep up with them, answering the “Miss Emily what does this do?” questions that came at me rapid fire. The 2nd graders read the labels to try to figure out the uses (”Subtle Safety Ring” became “Stubble Safety Ring”) and some even guessed as to how things might be used before listening to my explanation (”So the medicine goes right into your eyes!” one student attempted to explain about the Adaptive Eyecare liquid-filled glasses). We pulled out the WEZA foot treadle pump to let them try it out, and after, when asked by her teacher “What did the WEZA do?” one girl replied “It made a lot of noise!”
It was comments like this throughout the day that reminded me just how human design is, and how good it can be when it is honest. Young students see what is in front of them, usually unshrouded by judgment or preconception, bringing to light issues and the bare essence of things we designers often think too hard about and never see in the first place.
Two classes of high school students rounded out the day (we showed the Colbert Report clip), many of whom had smart questions and asked about their own possible career paths in science and technology. The entire day was inspiring and unlike any of our stops to date.
Two statements made my day. One came from a 2nd grader who returned to the trailer after her class had left, to tell us in one loud run-on sentence, “THANK YOU THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER!”
The second came in the form of a comment on our website from Ms. Baker, a 6th grade teacher who had brought her class to the Airstream in the morning. She said, “Thank you for a wonderful experience. The exhibit was followed an amazing classroom discussion with my 6th graders. My goal is for my students to see the world around them with a new lens – I want to teach my student to ask questions, to not accept things so readily – this exhibit was a wonderful way to inspire those conversations.”
Thank you to all the teachers, particularly Carolyn Sutton, for making our visit so lovely.
