Watch this space for updates on the project!
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The Flower House 2021
Ernest Boyer, the creator of the Basic School philosophy, envisioned a high school experience built around the idea of authentic work and this idea is central to Pioneer Springs' work study course for high school students. Part apprenticeship, part 'soft skills' immersion, all PSCS high schoolers will take the course each year to pursue more specific and targeted training in their chosen pathways, including Green Humanities, Sustainable Business & Industry, the Natural Sciences, and Designing the Future: Engineering, Technology, & Architecture. Central to this year's work course is the Flower House, a century-old structure that is one of the remaining artifacts of the farm that once operated from the Davis House and lands. This building has been given to the high school students with the task to restore and repurpose its use within the school's landscape. The Green Humanities students have been charged with chronicling the history of the building through first-person interviews, scholarly research, and the development of a multi-series podcast that tells the story of the building in context of the farm and surrounding community. Our Designing the Future students have the significant task of restoring the building from brick to roof to window sash in a manner that is both historically appropriate while also allowing for modern use. The Sustainable Business students are busy researching and writing a business plan for a viable coffee shop and marketplace that will operate from within the brick walls and will include commodities from the hydroponics lab that the Natural Sciences students are working to install. Each pathway will present its collaborative work to an external panel in May of 2021 for feedback. If you have interest in learning more about the PSCS work credit, the high school program, or serving on an external panel, please contact Becky Friend at beckyf@pioneersprings.org. |