Canby Applied Technology Center

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Canby School District is located 25 miles southeast of Portland, Oregon. Until recently, Canby was predominantly a manufacturing and agricultural community. Today its residents are involved in high tech, medical, design as well as manufacturing and natural resources careers.

In 2000, the School District passed a bond election to remodel a traditional vocational and technical program facility containing wood, metal, agriculture, and auto shop programs, and drafting. Based on community input and national/state-wide expectations regarding career programs, the District, parents, staff, businesses, local community colleges as well as national researchers and university educators were brought together to redefine the existing facilities’ educational program and learning environment.

The five-step process The District used to envision its career programs included:

1. Educational Vision Development: Invite businesses, district patrons, and staff to determine required skills and expertise of future students. Develop goals as a basis on which educational program planning could be based.

2. Educational Vision Refinement: Invite high school staff, through an RFP process, to re-conceptualize their programs based on the District’s Goals, Guiding Principles, and community input.

3. Educational Vision Implementation: Select RFP responses that meet District Goals and embark on a two-year planning and training effort to implement them.

4. Facility Goals/Vision: Engage national researchers, architects, educational planners, business and district staff in an interactive process to define the physical characteristics of the new model for learning.

5. Facility Design: Develop a Facility Design that supports the Educational and Planning Goals of the High School.

Based on these five steps, a new facility for inquiry, imagination and applied learning called the Canby Applied Technology Center (ATC) was created. The ATC program design integrates academic and technical learning around a rigorous project-based curriculum. The curriculum is aligned to state content and performance standards, and technical proficiencies defined by business and industry. Students interact with teachers of multiple disciplines using resources that encourage learning as an active endeavor. Personalized learning plans are achieved through dynamic and relevant academic and career pathways where students explore essential questions and issues in a variety of pursuits: scientific, mathematical, literary, historical, artistic, and aesthetic. Learning in the ATC relates to the community and includes high technology, engineering, design, natural resources, and manufacturing Career programs are interrelated and supported by core academic curriculum and higher education and business partnerships.

In support of the new program, Key Facility Components were identified as:

• Variety in space, function, and capabilities
• Adaptability to change use
• Visibility and connectivity between all building areas and programs
• Building as a Learning Tool

The design of the new ATC is the first phase of a redesign for the Canby High School Campus. For the second phase, it is envisioned that the entry of the school will move and a new Quad will be constructed linking the ATC with the main high school building and gymnasium complex.

Educator Narrative

The Canby Applied Technology Center (ATC) opened in mid school year 2002. The facility completion represents the initial phase of transformation from an Industrial Arts Program into an integrated academic and technical learning using rigorous project-based curriculum. The physical environment provides a strong framework for the educational program with its industrial feel and exposed infrastructure that serves as a learning tool with its mechanical, electrical, and structural systems exposed and labeled.

Since opening four months ago, occupancy has presented both student/staff successes and challenges. Key program ideas identified in the goal development process have begun to emerge. Science and English core curriculum instructors have been relocated to the new facility. Stronger partnerships with local and regional business, community, and higher education have been formed resulting in increased participation and use of the facility. Teachers have begun to implement team teaching, though additional staff training in this area is a need. Transition from the previous environment to a more integrated learning environment required establishment of new student behavior expectations.

Student comments include, “The professional feeling of the building makes me want to learn more,” “The visibility lets me see what is happening in other programs like robotics and I had no idea we could learn that at this school,” and “Coming to the building is the best part of my day… I learn so much better here.”

Teacher comments include, “The building and technology make the teachers and students feel that what they are doing is much more worthy,” “The spaces allow for open-ended learning, to experiment, explore, and be progressive,” “The building has removed barriers between programs for both teachers and students and opened up communication,” and “I’m ecstatic about the building and am lecturing about 50% less and using more project-based learning.”

Successful features include:
• Opportunity for a variety of teaching and learning activities in the same spaces.
• Teachers have adapted to the new program and environment more quickly than expected.
• Quiet reflection spaces within the learning spaces.
• Individual, team, and group activities within the same spaces.
• Extensive visibility of the learning processes (there are no questions about what this facility is all about) integrated, project-based learning supported by technology.
• Environment that supports the “jazz” of learning.
• Learning spaces that support programs in which students continue to explore and discover, design and test, create and build, test and assess, redesign, demonstrate and present, and constantly learn.
• Teacher to learner interaction and connections where learners are known and connected.
• Community participation.
• High tech appearance, function, and durable materials.
• Design that simulates business environments.
• Highly flexible and adaptable learning spaces that contain areas for direct instruction, team and project work, individual work, discovery, exploration, and quiet reflection.
• Functionality and flexibility that supports rapidly changing learning and teaching expectations.