The second session in which we posted the pictures and encouraged the children to design their own landscape with the aerial photos of Platt took two very different paths both times that I was involved. I felt that the first, on Wednesday, went very well, as the children seemed to open up to us and our conversations became much more personalized than they had been on Monday. This group seemed very realistic and easygoing, with good ideas as well. However, in contrast, Thursday did not go as well as I had hoped. Besides the fact that there were only five CU students there (to six Casey groups, causing us to have to mix them up), the exercises were noticeably less inspired and less personal. I actually ended up having the only set of photos (the only other 4363 student ended up having to fill in last minute), and the kids who had not been in my group Monday were quick to notice that the pictures they had taken were not being used at all. While this was frustrating in itself, when it came time to organize their aerial views the children were either extremely uninterested, or extremely unrealistic. Granted, I had told them to write down any idea they wanted, these ideas ended up being jet packs, demolishing Platt and replacing it with an amusement park, etc... Even more discouraging was that most of the kids that I was working with said that they were too busy with other after school activities to even consider joining the design club. As of now, with the success of Monday and Wednesday, and the disappointment of Thursday, my expectations concerning the success of Design Club are still high, given that we continue to work hard to make it something that kids will really enjoy.

Alyssa Lile