While working as an intern and then as a junior and intermediate designer, I have been both a mentee and mentor. Something that I still search out for in any position I engage in. Over the years, I’ve also been invited to various academic establishments, as a guest critic, mentor and even as a guest co-teacher at the California College of the Arts for an immersive design class with a focus on cultural inclusivity.
In 2016, I joined Leap's active roster of Teaching Artists, and completed my first residency at an elementary school, teaching 3-5th graders about Design, Architecture and the Built Environment. My approach is about learning through observation, experience and practice. Students realize through the content of the course that they themselves are "users" and participants everyday of architectural designs and outcomes. In conjunction with an introduction to architectural concepts and practices the students awareness of their environments are heightened to a level where they are able to answer questions of why and how, and even make informed design focused decisions based on their knowledge and experience. Along the way they also learn new skills that relate to their core-curriculum, and have an opportunity to strengthen their presentation skills. Each student took what they learnt and applied it to a unique design of their own. These individual projects went on to form a city block, and then in turn the city blocks came together to create a community/neighborhood.
In 2018, I expanded my architectural curriculum to offer connections to other classroom projects such as a “responsive design” to extreme climate conditions, as well a team “bridge build” exercise.
In 2019 I helped develop and launch a successful UX pilot program for Leap, aimed at introducing 5th graders to the notions of human centered design and the principles of user focused research, testing and ideation all as part of intention to solve real life problems through elegant design. The intention was to provide students with an insight to relatively new industry while also developing a curriculum for the organization to entice funding from tech community that is so strong in the Bay Area.
