Casey Design Club Final Evaluation

It is not the end of our semester with the Casey Middle School students and our Design Club. Despite the rough start and the doubt that I had that it would actually result in any positive outcomes, seeing all the kids at the presentation tonight showing off their models to their parents and friends shows just how strong working with the community can be despite all odds. We presented our final projects of video evaluations of design club, papers of the benefits of participatory processes, and manuals that would help future participatory projects succeed, tonight at the presentation. I think getting the parents reactions to what we did and how we tired to work with the kids as opposed to using them really turned me around on the whole process. At first I wasn’t sure that an entire community would want to get involved or would understand thee importance of a project like ours, but I heard that one of the fathers offered to help next time we created a design club by donating materials, time or whatever we needed at the time.
I think all in all the Design Club was a success. We definitely made an impact on the kids and I think they learned why sustainability is so important in design and lifestyles these days. I think one of the most successful parts of the club was the relationship that we developed with the kids. They really started to open up to us and I think that the relationship made the experience a much more positive one and hopefully the kids will be willing to be more involved in the future. I think in a participatory project that is what keeps it alive is teaching the students how to be involved and eventually they might begin to start their own community project an eventually the movement will become much greater.
I feel that the activities we did for the most part were good with the students, those who did them remembered them and felt that they did learn something from it. The most successful was the model building which I think was so popular because it was really a chance for them to express themselves and drive the activity as opposed to be taught it. They really liked the hands on experience and I feel that we were just there to facilitate things and observe their work. However, I feel that the project would have been more successful if we had created a bigger recruitment strategy. We didn’t have many students and the CU students still outnumbered them. So in the future I think early recruitment would benefit in the long run.
I loved working with the kids and I think I came away from the experience a better designer. I look at a design in a totally different way than I did before. I look at how it fits in with the surrounding environment much more both in appearance and in how it might obstruct their activities or enhance their activities. What do they use the building for and how does that differ or relate to that of the owner of the building. I think about all of the stakeholders now and not just the primary use of the building. For example, how do the parents use the building as opposed to the teachers? How does a janitor use the building as opposed to a gym teacher? There is a lot more to look at and incorporating all of that into a design is what makes it truly sustainable due to it’s efficiency and the connection made with it.

-Brittany