Design Academy for K-12 Educators

The four-day immersive professional development workshop brought 23 educators from across the country to ASLA headquarters to explore environmental humanities through the eyes of landscape architects. Below, David Rubin, FASLA discusses his design vision and work on the popular Franklin Park in Washington, DC

From July 23 to July 26, ASLA hosted its inaugural Design Academy for K-12 Educators: Teaching Environmental Design through Landscape Architecture.

The program included information sessions led by Jennifer Nitzky, FASLA, a community of ASLA members and other site designers who integrated environmental design theory within a variety of humanities subjects - history, anthropology, human geography, archaeology, literature, and visual arts - to design iconic spaces throughout Washington, DC. 

Sessions were followed by site tours to parks, playgrounds, and green roofs designed by landscape architects including:   

  • City Center Plaza with Rodrigo Abela, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP BD+C  
  • Franklin Park with David Rubin, FASLA, PLA, FAAR 
  • Georgetown Day School Playground with Nathan Schleicher  
  • Howard University with Marc Massay, Glenn LaRue Smith, FASLA, and Derreck Niec-Williams, ASLA 
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library Modernization Green Roof Project with Sara Downing, ASLA, PLA, LEED AP BD+C  
  • Smithsonian Institution Gardens with Matthew Sellers, ASLA 

Click here to view the photo from ASLA’s Design Academy for K-12 Educators workshop.

ASLA's Design Academy for K-12 Educators would not be possible without the generous support of the ASLA Fund and its donors. 

PREMIER SPONSOR 

  • Maglin 

LEADERSHIP SPONSORS 

  • Confluence 
  • OJB 

CHAMPION SPONSORS 

  • Corvus Design, Inc. 
  • Craig Bergmann Landscape Design Inc 
  • Donnelly Partners 
  • Four and One 
  • Restaino Design Landscape Architecture 

SUPPORTING SPONSORS 

  • Angela Dye 
  • Anonymous Donors 
  • Dirtworks Landscape Architecture 
  • Emma Kelly Landscape, LLC 
  • Nicholas Reed 
  • Phyto Studio LLC 
  • Rodney Swink 
  • Steve Spicer 
  • SuLin Kotowicz 
  • Supermass Studio 
  • Upland Design Ltd 
  • Urban Play Studio LLC 
  • Wendie McAllaster 

Please direct questions about ASLA’s Design Academy for K-12 Educators and other Career Discovery programming activities to Lisa J. Jennings, Senior Manager, Career Discovery and Diversity at [email protected].