Build Me Up: Teaching a Sustainable Future with North Park School for Innovation
The North Park School for Innovation, part of the Columbia Heights Public School District in Minnesota, is changing the way students prepare for a 21st-century world. The PreK through 5th Grade building has a focus on STEM, creativity, and sustainability with flexible learning studios that facilitate hands-on learning programs for students.
North Park was designated as a Green Ribbon School, one of less than 50 schools nationwide honored by the Department of Education for leading the way in reducing environmental impact, promoting health, and ensuring high-quality environmental education programming that prepares students with sustainability skills and concepts.
On the latest episode of KA’s Build Me Up podcast, North Park Principal Jeff Cacek and Director of Teaching and Learning Tara Thukral discuss the North Park School for Innovation.
21st Century Learning
“Sustainability has become such an important aspect of our future green technology, green industry, and so on. There are going to be a lot of jobs in these industries and our students need to be prepared for that.”
KA completed construction for the 12,500-square-foot addition and 30,000-square foot renovation that included new classrooms and administrative space, as well as upgrades to improve hands-on learning spaces for science and the arts. Designed by Cuningham Group Architecture, the rebranded North Park School for Innovation has the 4 C’s of 21st Century learning – collaboration, communication, critical thinking, and creativity – embedded throughout the facility. North Park’s curriculum is designed around preparing students for a 21st-century economy with a technology-forward, flexible learning approach. North Park’s programming goes beyond teaching math and reading standards. The STEM curriculum is designed to develop critical thinking skills, and the school’s sustainability focus teaches valuable skills that students will use for the rest of their lives.
Prioritizing Sustainability
“We don’t have these things here just because it’s the right thing, which it is. But we have them here so that our kids can learn, and we can design curriculum around each thing we do.”
North Park’s robust composting and recycling program not only reduced the school’s carbon footprint, but it has taught the students to be mindful of sustainability practices throughout their lives. The building’s green space was designed to include a wetland, rain gardens to support pollinator plants, and an edible garden that has been used to feed families in the community. The school’s biodigester is one of the first in the country and critical to its sustainability mission. A traditional composting pile takes about eight months to become usable compost. But the biodigester gets that work done overnight, which the school adds directly to its gardens. It also makes it possible to run its new boiler off of compost. The ecosystem within North Park keeps the environment a top priority and allows students to learn sustainability principles in a hands-on way.
North Park is seeing real results with its curriculum not only on test scores, but in the passion its students are bringing beyond the school walls. They come home and teach their parents how to compost. They campaign their middle school to have the same sustainability standards that North Park has. And they are becoming a generation of collaborative and creative thinkers that will be prepared to enter the workforce.
To learn more about the North Park School for Innovation, tune in to the latest episode of KA’s Build Me Up podcast. You can subscribe to Build Me Up wherever you listen to podcasts.
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