At WHSAD, students have the opportunity to participate and learn from numerous partnerships and projects. An example of such a partnership is the Tompkinsville Esplanade project, which has been developed over the last few months by students. At the beginning of the project, students were given a simple overview and goal of the project to develop a design concept that would fit the needs of the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). They turned this information into a vision and presented the idea to stakeholders at the midterm. They received feedback in response to the presentation and updated their project accordingly. The second presentation of the project’s progress was held on Wednesday, April 21st. In attendance were students from WHSAD as well as members of the EDC team who have been working closely with students on this project. From the start of the project to date, students have demonstrated significant progress and improvement which was showcased in the presentation.
You may view the entire presentation here:
Presentations like this one highlight what has been achieved, however, work put into in the background should also be recognized. To learn more about this, individuals involved in this project were willing to answer a few questions about the project’s design process, presentation process, and personal growth during development.
Lawrence Pierre, WHSAD Junior
How did you begin when you were first given this project, how have you since progressed to where you are now?
Because of my late arrival in the project, I began by revising the work my team had already made. For example, I cleaned up some of the slides demonstrated in our last presentation. Right now, I’m doing research on the project, specifically on the history behind the area we are working on (Tompkinsville). I’m also working on a few ground view schematic drawings of the area.
How has feedback contributed to your development as well as the development of the project?
Feedback has allowed my teammates and me to revise the project with an understanding of what our client’s expectations are.
What steps do you plan to take in the future to further develop your presentations and overall project?
For further development on the project, I plan on using feedback from the client and people who live in the community where our project will be built so that we can create an esplanade that is beneficial to those who will be using it the most. In addition, my team plans on doing more research on the area and visiting the site to get a feel for what we’re going to be working with.
Based on your experience so far, what have been some key takeaways from this process?
One key takeaway I got from this project is how important it is to stay organized. The app, Miro, that my group is using is very useful in communicating our ideas to each other, but it’s so easy to get lost in all of the work placed in it.
Kacper Wodz, WHSAD Junior
How did you begin when you were first given this project, how have you since progressed to where you are now?
I joined the group a week after it was started, and we didn’t have much on the Miro board or Google slides. Over time we did research and brainstormed for essentials and additions to the project.
Since your first presentation, how have you improved your presentation skills? (Ex: Public Speaking, Organization, Engagement, etc.)
My presentations skills have improved over time as the more presentations we did I got more comfortable and more prepared. In the end, we are presenting our work to others who are interested in our work and are going to improve our work.
How has feedback contributed to your development as well as the development of the project?
The development of our project has had a lot of beneficial feedback since we have done a lot of presentations to people that have had really good feedback for us. You can’t get enraged when you get critiqued as you have to do what satisfies the customer.
What steps do you plan to take in the future to further develop your presentations and overall project?
We plan to implement the feedback we got from the presentation to the EDC, Parks, and DOT. We will continue to do research to further develop our project.
How do you integrate new people into the project as they join? Have specific student roles aided in the project’s development?
Well we integrate new people in the group by having a mini presentation for them of what we have done. After that we would ask on what specifically interested in adding and or doing research on and we make roles for everyone.
Based on your experience so far, what have been some key takeaways from this process?
Some key takeaways I have had from working on this project would be that it is incredible to work on such a project and get experience on working and designing a site. The group we have on this project is incredible to work with day in and day out.
Ravien Rowl, WHSAD Junior
How did you begin when you were first given this project, how have you since progressed to where you are now?
My project was recently integrated into this project.
How has feedback contributed to your development as well as the development of the project?
The feedback made me think about my own presentation skills and how I should slow down when I talk so that I can help everyone understand the information that I’m giving.
What steps do you plan to take in the future to further develop your presentations and overall project?
I plan to work on my presentation skills more.
Nigel John, WHSAD Student
How did you begin when you were first given this project, how have you since progressed to where you are now?
I started the project by looking into the sites and information given to me. From there I received help after my first presentation from my architecture teachers.
Since your first presentation, how have you improved your presentation skills? (Ex: Public Speaking, Organization, Engagement, etc.)
I gained more confidence in myself in speaking, also I worked on me going on with the flow of the presentation without having to look back.
How has feedback contributed to your development as well as the development of the project?
The feedback made me do more research and gave me new ideas to make the project better and work on from there.
What steps do you plan to take in the future to further develop your presentations and overall project?
I plan on finishing the project obviously, but I am also working on making it perfect and adding layouts and diagrams.
How do you integrate new people into the project as they join? Have specific student roles aided in the project’s development?
Well this part is easy. We have a site (Miro) which gives you a quick rundown on what’s going on. When they are done with that, I will verbally explain the next steps and also extra information on a need to know bases.
Based on your experience so far, what have been some key takeaways from this process?
To be honest with you I am not sure how to answer that because this is fun and it takes me out of my comfort zone, but I am learning a lot of new things that will benefit me in the near future and I get to do what I love. But what I do know is that we need the get this project to look great.
Ms. Moos, WHSAD Junior Architecture and Design Teacher and Project Mentor
How has feedback contributed to your development as well as the development of the project?
The feedback from the stakeholders helped the team to get a better understanding of what details are still missing from the project development, such as choosing plants which are deer resistant or providing information and visualizations of how the Tompkinsville Esplanade connects to the neighborhood it is located in.
It was great that the presentation is recorded so the students are able to observe how they presented and how they improve, maybe the timing, or the information which is shared.
How do you integrate new people into the project as they join? Have specific student roles aided in the project’s development?
From my perspective I see that students decide which task they will tackle. We use the Miro Board and use its task manager to keep track. Maybe there was a bit of a transition from small group to bigger, but it has been pretty smooth.
