by Catherine Teegarden Center for Architecture Foundation
The Center for Architecture is pleased to announce a new after-school program for elementary school-aged children interested in architecture. Beginning this March, the Center’s Education Department will offer a 10-week class for 3rd to 5th graders on Wednesday afternoons at the Center. The program, Exploring Architecture, will be led by the Center’s Education Assistant Hadley Beacham. Hadley brings new energy and experience to this endeavor, having created and taught after-school and field trip programs at the High Line and the Intrepid Museum before joining the Center’s staff in November. “What I love most about after-school programs,” Hadley shared, “is that it’s a time for students to discover that learning is fun and can happen outside of school. Students get to imagine, create, and share their ideas in a space that is less structured than what they may be used to in a classroom setting.”
Each week, students will discover new elements of architecture as they work towards creating a final project. They will draw inspiration from local buildings as they explore the Center for Architecture’s neighborhood, learn how to create floor plans and work in scale, and use these new tools to create and build their own structures.
The Center for Architecture previously ran after-school programs for middle and elementary students in 2010-11, but decided to shift staff and resources to build up our summer, vacation, and school visit programs for youth instead. Now that these offerings routinely sell out each year, we are reopening this programming opportunity, reaching out to local schools and residents who are looking for fun, creative, and educational extra-curricular activities for their kids. We plan to expand to other grades and run the programs in both fall and spring as we develop our after-school audience, hoping to make the Center for Architecture the place for New Yorkers of all ages to come to learn about the built environment.
For more information or to register, visit www.cfafoundation.org/afterschool or contact Hadley at info@cfafoundation.org.