From July 23 to July 26, ASLA hosted its inaugural Design Academy for K-12 Educators: Teaching Environmental Design through Landscape Architecture. The four-day immersive professional development workshop brought 23 educators from across the country to ASLA headquarters to explore environmental humanities through the lens of landscape architecture.  

The program included information sessions led by Jennifer Nitzky, FASLA, a community of landscape architects and other site designers who integrated environmental design theory within a variety of humanities subjects such as history, anthropology, human geography, archaeology, literature, and visual arts.  

Sessions were followed by site tours designed to explore the roles of history, culture, and storytelling in iconic urban landscapes and cultural landmarks throughout Washington, DC. Sites and participating designers included:   

• 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 ljennings@asla.org.