Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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Aaron Bivens, the project manager for the Mary Todd Elementary renovations, showed students a site map and pointed out the new bus loop.

Mary Todd Elementary is buzzing with questions about the school’s $11 million overhaul, which began this summer. Now, with Renovation 101, students will be equipped to provide some answers for their peers and teachers.

“I can’t wait until we see all the things they’re doing,” said team member Ray Surratt.

Breckinridge, Cardinal Valley, Clays Mill, James Lane Allen, Meadowthorpe, Stonewall and Wellington also have either a Design 101 or Renovation 101 team. In this initiative, the schools partner with the architects and engineers, who meet regularly with students to talk about various steps in the process.

“Using the building as an instructional tool is a great opportunity,” said Mary Wright, the chief operating officer for Fayette County Public Schools.

In delivering the monthly construction update at November’s school board meeting, she pointed out photos of Cardinal Valley youngsters on a hard-hat tour.

Mary Todd just launched the districtwide program E=USE2 (Education leads to Understanding Sustainability, Energy and the Environment) and chose a handful of fourth-graders for its Renovation 101 team, which will learn about sustainable features being added to the building. Among them are more efficient insulation and day lighting.

“We’re opening up the gym and knocking out much of the main wall to get some natural light in there,” noted project manager Aaron Bivens, who laid the Renovation 101 groundwork before Thanksgiving break.

Bivens, who works with Murphy Graves Architects, started out explaining what an architect does and talking about how aptitudes in art, design and math fit well in this career path.

“The architects dream up what the new building will look like and then help make it happen,” added Tresine Logsdon, the district’s energy and sustainability curriculum coordinator, who tries to attend all the Renovation 101 meetings.

When one girl asked if he was the only architect on the Mary Todd project, Bivens quickly pointed out that some 20 colleagues collaborated on the designs and drawings. In addition, scores of construction workers are scattered around the property.

“It takes us working with the engineers, contractors and teachers, and hopefully at the end you have a building everyone likes,” Bivens said.

He showed the kids some schematic drawings and a site plan, where they saw how the buses will load in back of the school and the car riders out front under the new configuration. The children also were glad to see the design preserves their playground and rain garden.

“They’re planning it step by step so you can think about it better,” said 9-year-old Hannah Spencer.  

In the coming months, Bivens plans to introduce the children to other members of the design and construction team and talk about their roles at Mary Todd. He also will dip into specifics such as elevation changes and “green” technology and will lead the kids on a tour, perhaps when the structural steel framing is in place for the media center, lobby or vestibule.

“I want the students to be able to see the building frame before it is enclosed with the exterior veneers and finishes,” he said.

For their part, the Renovation 101 team will pull together short presentations for fellow students, faculty and staff, the PTA and the School-Based Decision Making Council. Hannah and Ray are joined by Emily Riviera, Azreal Lance, Michael Fraley and Araya Chapman. They all had good questions for the visiting architect, and Hannah is eager to pass along what they learn throughout the 18-month renovation.

“It’s like you’re teaching everybody something new every month,” she said.

Fourth-grade teacher Emily Runnels, who coordinates E=USE2 at Mary Todd, said the Renovation 101 kids will come away particularly empowered and enlightened.

“They know we’re in the pods and know there’s construction going on, but to actually see where we’re going and what it’ll be like when we’re done, it’ll help them understand better,” she said. “To be able to know what’s going on here and share it with others, they’ll absolutely feel like it’s part of them.”

Resources

• Latest renovation update on Mary Todd Elementary (Files are added monthly to each school's Web page after the Board of Education meeting.)

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