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Classes for the Real World: UrbanPlan Enters LAUSD CurriculumApril 15, 2003ULI Los Angeles NewsletterBy Thomas D. Leahy Spring, 2003 At Playa Vista on February 10, ULI Los Angeles and Los Angeles Unified School District debuted an innovative pilot program establishing community planning and development as part of the LAUSD curriculum. The program, UrbanPlan, begins in four LAUSD high schools this semester and is expected to expand district-wide in 2004. ULI Los Angeles is providing $20,000 to help launch the UrbanPlan unit. It is also contributing logistical support and bringing planners and developers to speak to the high school classes. "Virtually all of today's urban issues -- from housing to the environment to economic revitalization -- are related to planning and development," said LAUSD Director of High School Programs J. Lloyd Jacobs, who is the liaison between the UrbanPlan committee and its high school teachers. "These classes will not only help prepare students to become informed citizens, they will also open up new career opportunities. With UrbanPlan now in the general curriculum, education in Los Angeles enters a crucial new era." At the kick-off event at Playa Vista, a range of development professionals provided an orientation on the many components of community planning and development, from financing to marketing. The students and their teachers also received a tour of Playa Vista hosted by President Steve Soboroff. "We need to redefine the whole vocational education model," said Jacobs. "These are essential academic lessons, no less important than algebra or history because they address some of the most immediate issues facing today's citizens." The four L.A. high schools participating in the UrbanPlan pilot program are Reseda, Cleveland and Kennedy High Schools in the San Fernando Valley, and Woodrow Wilson High School in East Los Angeles. Approximately 100 students are enrolled in the program. At part of this award-winning program, students study a section of their own neighborhood that may be blighted or otherwise in need of redevelopment. They create a hypothetical plan for the area and a three-dimensional model. The class concludes with a scholarship competition sponsored by ULI Los Angeles in which the criteria include oral presentations. UrbanPlan is another very important way that ULI Los Angeles is positively affecting the urban landscape. To be part of our committee, our website at "Volunteer for UrbanPlan". Thomas D. Leahy, Senior Vice President, Real Estate Credit Risk Management with Bank of America, is the Co-Chair of the ULI Los Angeles UrbanPlan Committee. | |
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