Page 58 - ANAHEIM 2019

SESSIONABSTRACTS continued...
between design and student success is incremental at best, and causality is nearly impossible to isolate. On the other hand, there is a single factor that has historically and consistently been demonstrated as determinative in student success: faculty and staff stability. Generations of studies have noted the strong correlations between positive student outcomes and high levels of teacher support, low rates of faculty turn-over, positive community engagement and effective mentoring. Teachers regularly survey among the most purpose-driven and mission-dedicated professionals in the workforce. Yet they also report among the least respected and most stressed. Beyond the academy, our commercial workplaces are being redefined by increased attention on the needs and desires of young and capricious generations, steeped in technology, globalism and commoditized social media. If educational environments were to respond to these forces the way the commercial workplace has, what would be the impact on teacher recruitment and retention? Is that, ultimately, the key to consistently positive student outcomes? This session will present a survey of contemporary workplace expectations and assess the state of educational facility design against those expectations. The discussion will address individual teacher’s health and wellness, and the impact that building conditions
have both physically and emotionally. We will also address the unique characteristics of Professional Learning Communities and how facilities can best support collaborative team models and peer mentoring. We will explore the premise that an enhanced workplace for faculty and staff is the most direct route to positive student outcomes.
Learning Objectives
OBJ #1 Identify the environmental conditions in the commercial workplace that contribute to emotional well-being and employee satisfaction.
OBJ #2 Develop evidence-based design criteria to support faculty and staff wellness in educational facilities.
OBJ #3 Describe the critical relationship between faculty stability and student success.
OBJ #4 Evaluate design strategies to support effective faculty collaboration and mentoring.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
The Great Outdoors: Environmental Stewardship in Urban Landscapes
Leona Ketterl, AIA, ALEP, LEED AP BD+C, Senior Design Manager, LAUSD / Gary Lai, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal, AHBE Landscape Architects / Gerardo (Jerry) Salazar, Outdoor and Environmental Education Administrator, Los Angeles Unified School District / Terrace / IA CEU: 1.0 LU HSW /Primary Core Competencies: Design of Educational FacilitiesA / Secondary Core Competencies: Ethics / Professionalism
“It’s so important to raise a generation of young people who have a relationship with nature, because then they will want to protect it.” Laurel Chor, Conservationist and National Geographic Explorer. Increasingly, individuals and communities are becoming aware of the relationship between quality of life and environmental literacy. Research has shown the importance of introducing children to nature and land stewardship at an early age, especially under-served, inner city children with less opportunities to access natural settings. Following a pedagogy of culturally relevant and responsive teaching, LAUSD’s Office of Outdoor and Environmental Education offers students real world field studies at their outdoor education centers. High academic rigor, excellent instructional practice and a deliberately executed human relations and team building curriculum lead to expected the outcome: creating an emotional connection to learning and the outdoors. In partnership with community-based organizations, such as the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, the Office of Outdoor and Environmental Education increased student participation in outdoor education programs from 4,800 to 18,700 in the last 5 years. The goal of the program is to provide every LAUSD