Morgan SA+P ‘Teach It Forward’ Program Sparks Design Aspirations Among Local Youth

Morgan students from the School of Architecture and Planning’s (SA+P) Architecture and Environmental Design Program (AREN) shared their creative expertise by providing design lessons to 150 sixth and eighth graders from the Baltimore Design School (BDS), a preparatory school dedicated to fostering creativity and critical thinking. The experiential learning workshop was made possible through the ‘Teach It Forward’ program, an initiative which aligns Morgan scholars with Baltimore City youth.
Working with BDS middle school teachers Leah Hucker and Stephanie Cafaro, Morgan SA+P students provided critical support by way of hands-on lessons in architectural modelmaking. Conversely, Morgan students were able to place classroom theory and instruction into practice, culminating in a genuine ‘teachable moment’ for students with aspirations in modern design fields such as architecture, fashion and graphic design.
“It’s meaningful for our students to not just progress in their own journeys, but to also reach out to younger students and guide others like themselves to pursue Architecture and Design,” said Grabriel Kroiz, AIA, associate SA+P professor and faculty advisor for the AREN and BDS workshop. “Teach It Forward, as its goal, combines the strength of these two institutions to develop solid pathways that provide the kind of economic and academic access to design professions that students in our region deserve.”

Student leaders Ryan Eubanks and Monique Robinson, who are also involved with the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) student organizations respectively, developed the lesson plan which focused on the key functions required for modelmaking. Among those functions included are how to safely cut, score and glue materials together to make architectural shapes.

Morgan students, which included pairs of upperclassmen and first-year students, served as classroom “instructors” helping to provide the daily lessons for the small class groups. In addition to their work in the classroom, the BDS students were given a tour of the LEED Gold Center for the Built Environment and Infrastructure Studies (CBEIS) facility and introduced to Morgan’s history and its crucial role in the civil rights movement in Baltimore and beyond by Professor Dale Green.

“The best part of the visit was the joy of sharing our passions with members of our Baltimore Community,” said Ryan Eubanks, a sophomore majoring in Architectural and Environmental Design. “Baltimore Design School Architecture and Morgan State Architecture and Environmental Design should cultivate a strong connection as our programs are a natural progression in education. It is the hope of our entire team to see some of the students become future Bears.”

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Faculty Advisor and BDS Liaison:

Gabriel Kroiz, Associate Professor

 

Student Leaders:

Ryan Eubanks, Sophomore, AIAS
Monique Robinson, Senior, NOMAS

 

Student Teachers:

First Year Students – Matthew Watkins, Jamal Brandon, Ke'Arie Holiday, Oluwatoni Akinmusere, Ademola Akinwale, Ian Ross

Upper-level Students ­– Selena Carter, Brian Helfer, Ciera Jones, Myoni Campbell, Kai Carson, Justin Naylor, Daryl Vargas

 

SA+P Support:

Dale Green, Professor of Practice, Evan Richardson, Assistant Dean, Colleen Sagers, BEAR Lab Manager and Brian Stansbury, BEAR Lab Director/Lecturer