BEE - Built Environment Education
Mr. Harley served the Omaha, Nebraska public school system as a special part-time teacher working with Middle School students and Art, Humanity, Science, and Industrial Shop teachers in developing new curriculum and special projects to add Built Environment Education to their class opportunities. This work involved three schools in the Omaha Public School system.
This work was supported with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. The Omaha Public School system and this BCC program was selected with a limited number of similar schools across the nation to receive this grant, the grant included attendance by Mr. Harley and the related Omaha Pubic School teachers at a training session in Washington D.C.
The special BEE projects included studies and related hands-on projects involving Renewable Energy + working solar collectors (solar heated air and water), Nebraska Rural-Urban Community Land Use, Neighborhood-School urban context structure, changing land use and related student social patterns and new desk and textural interior school way finding for visually handicapped students.. A large hands-on project with the art students and teacher involved construction of a sugar cube gothic cathedral and related studies of the architectural and structural concepts.
More recently, Mr. Harley worked with a few students at Lowell Middlesex Academy Charter School in Lowell, Massachusetts for a special BEE project offered by the Middlesex Academy Art Teacher.
GDHA is current developing a hands-on and virtual BEE study guide related to some of these student projects and related studies.
Neighborhood Walk with Teachers + Students - Visual Awareness
How many different arches can you find in your local neighborhood?
Where and why were they used?
