Name: Teaching design for change
Uploaded: 2010-11-08T15:18:00Z
Duration: 16 min 26 s
Description: Designer Emily Pilloton moved to rural Bertie County, in North Carolina, to engage in a bold experiment of design-led community transformation. She's teaching a design-build class called Studio H that engages high schoolers' minds and bodies while bringing smart design and new opportunities to the poorest county in the state.

Designer Emily Pilloton moved to rural Bertie County, in North Carolina, to engage in a bold experiment of design-led community transformation. She's teaching a design-build class called Studio H that engages high schoolers' minds and bodies while bringing smart design and new opportunities to the poorest county in the state.

Teaching design for change

Applying hands-on design and building to education can spark pride and progress in even the most struggling communities. In Bertie County, North Carolina, where only 27 percent of students passed state standards and one in three children lives in poverty, a radical design-build curriculum turned students into creators of tangible local change. Projects like student-built farmers' markets and playgrounds elevated learning and connected the classroom to community needs. This approach shows that creativity and collaboration can unlock new futures for rural youth and their towns.