Michael Berry Career Center

Narratives

Project Designer

The client’s vision was to create a high-tech crossroads facility that would serve the needs and ambitions of high school and college students, as well as local industry. The Dearborn team wanted a state-of-the-art building, which would provide flexible learning environments, as well as large corporate-level facilities for the community. The resulting career center is an open, collaborative environment facility that spans the educational continuum.

EXEMPLARY IDEAS AND EXECUTION

A HOME FOR ALL LEARNERS — Create a facility that will create a synergy between high school programs, community college programs, and corporate training facilities for local industry.

Located on the Dearborn Heights campus of Henry Ford Community College, the new school is actually designed as a 60,000-square-foot addition to the existing community college building. A glass-enclosed connector corridor serves as a “bridge” between the two buildings, creating an environment that supports the sharing of physical resources and interface among all students.

With its emphasis on connecting learners of all ages, the design for school focuses on the use of communal space. The building is oriented around a glass-enclosed, naturally lit, two-story lobby that acts as a gathering area for student and community events. Shared-use areas are clustered around the lobby, including a working culinary restaurant and a large lecture hall that is used by local corporations and community groups.

Envisioned as an open learning environment with numerous breakout spaces, the academic wing supports open office planning and allows for the consolidation of two high school programs. A wireless network extends learning opportunities outside the classroom, allowing students to use the traditional walkway as a computer lab.

CUSTOMIZED INSTRUCTION — Enable students to move on to advanced degrees or to achieve skills sets that prepare them for immediate entry into the workforce.

The facility has educational environments that provide for traditional instruction and hands-on training for different technical skills. Flexible and open classroom configurations support a curriculum that champions interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary instruction. In this environment, students in programs ranging from construction technology to marketing and advanced mathematics work side-by-side in a collegial atmosphere that closely resembles real world conditions.

FROM 2006 TO 2036 — Create an educational environment that supports the learning environment of today and 30 years from now.

As the building was being designed, the owner was still examining potential programs to be offered. The design team used this challenge as a springboard toward the creation of a super flexible facility that would adapt to changing programmatic needs.

The “research” section of the building is designed in a manner traditionally found in corporate and university research facilities. The area is a completely flexible space, with a 10′ by 30′ planning module that allows classrooms to expand from 300 to 1,200-square-feet without modification to the mechanical, electrical, and technology systems. The upper floor features a computer access floor and has technology distribution through both wireless and hard wired configurations. The access floor allows for plug and play adaptability for both power and data without modification to the building infrastructure.

Career and Technical Education / Coordinator

The mission of the school is to partner with the community, industry, and local colleges and universities to provide innovative, rigorous and engaging curricula, along with the specialized skills/training necessary for students to excel in diverse post-secondary endeavors.

To understand the unique ideas that serve as the underpinnings for our new school, I think you need to understand how this building came to fruition. Our district was faced with enrollment growth and needed to either build a fourth high school or come up with some other solution. The idea of a career center where students would spend a portion of their day was determined to be the most viable option. Initially, the thought was to create a building that would house the typical vocational components, but under the leadership of our superintendent, Dr. John Artis, we began to emphasize technology.

The planning and design of the building was a collaborative effort. Individuals from throughout the community were invited to be part of a task force. These individuals, representing business, education, parent groups, and concerned citizens, were asked to look at not only what programs would be offered, but also what the actual design of the building should be. Our primary goal was to create an open environment that would serve juniors and seniors that would elect to take classes in Career and Technical Education.

The open classroom environment that we have on the second floor is a great example of how the building meets our goals. The entire area is completely flexible. This creates a sense of community among the instructors. They collaborate on instructional practices and share information about the progress of their students. Though they were initially skeptical about the open configuration, they love it now. With all of the new requirements put on high schools, we apparently did the right thing when we chose to move away from the concept of traditional vocational classes, and focused on technology.

We have developed partnerships with several local universities and organizations. These successful relationships include the University of Michigan’s Dearborn campus, Henry Ford Community College, College for Creative Studies and Davenport University. In collaboration with the Ford Motor Company, we also offer the Ford PAS (Partnership for Advanced Studies) program, which allows students to work on real-world problems and develops their higher order thinking skills.

This building has opened up a world of opportunities for the students in the Dearborn Public Schools, there is excitement here!

As we close our first year, I look forward to the opportunities for teaching and learning for the upcoming school year.