So this is a story of a place that I now call home. It's a story of public education and of rural communities and of what design might do to improve both. So this is Bertie County, North Carolina, USA. To give you an idea of the "where:" So here's North Carolina, and if we zoom in, Bertie County is in the eastern part of the state. It's about two hours east driving-time from Raleigh. And it's very flat. It's very swampy. It's mostly farmland. The entire county is home to just 20,000 people, and they're very sparsely distributed. So there's only 27 people per square mile, which comes down to about 10 people per square kilometer.
Pra kjo eshte historia e vendit qe une tani e quaj shtepi. Eshte nje histori e edukimit publik dhe e komuniteteve rurale dhe se cfare mund te beje dizajni per ti permiresuar te dyja. Pra, kjo eshte Komuna Bertie, ne Karolinen e Veriut, Sh.B.A, per t'ju dhene nje ide te vendodhjes. Pra, ketu eshte Karolina e Veriut, dhe nese e zmadhojme, Komuna Bertie eshte ne pjesen lindore te shtetit. Eshte rreth dy ore ne lindje me makine nga Raleigh. Dhe eshte shume e rrafshet. Eshte shume mocalore. Eshte kryesisht toke bujqesore. E gjithe komuna banohet nga vetem 20,000 njerez, dhe ato jane pak te shperndare. Ka vetem 27 persona per milje katror, qe eshte rreth 10 njerez per kilometer katror.
Bertie County is kind of a prime example in the demise of rural America. We've seen this story all over the country and even in places beyond the American borders. We know the symptoms. It's the hollowing out of small towns. It's downtowns becoming ghost towns. The brain drain -- where all of the most educated and qualified leave and never come back. It's the dependence on farm subsidies and under-performing schools and higher poverty rates in rural areas than in urban. And Bertie County is no exception to this. Perhaps the biggest thing it struggles with, like many communities similar to it, is that there's no shared, collective investment in the future of rural communities. Only 6.8 percent of all our philanthropic giving in the U.S. right now benefits rural communities, and yet 20 percent of our population lives there.
Komuna Bertie eshte nje lloj shembulli kryesor ne deshtimin e Amerikes rurale. Ne e kemi pare kete histori perreth gjithe vendit dhe madje edhe ne vende pertej kufijnve amerikane. Ne i dime simptomat. Eshte gërryerja e qyteteve te vogla. Qendrat e qytetit kthehen ne qytet fantazem -- largimi i trurit, ku me te edukuarit dhe te kualifikuarit largohen dhe nuk kthehen me kurre. Eshte varesia mbi subvencionet bujqesore dhe shkollave me performance te ulet dhe normave te larta te varferise ne zonat rurale ne krahasim me ato urbane. Dhe Komuna Bertie nuk eshte perjashtim per kete. Ndoshta gjeja me e madhe me te cilen lufton, si shume komunitete te ngjashme me te, eshte qe aty nuk ka investime kolektive, te perbashketa, ne te ardhmen e komuniteteve rurale. Vetem 6,8 perqind e te gjitha bamiresive tona duke u dhene ne SHBA tani perfitohen nga komunitetet rurale, dhe 20 perqind e popullsise tone jeton atje.
So Bertie County is not only very rural; it's incredibly poor. It is the poorest county in the state. It has one in three of its children living in poverty, and it's what is referred to as a "rural ghetto." The economy is mostly agricultural. The biggest crops are cotton and tobacco, and we're very proud of our Bertie County peanut. The biggest employer is the Purdue chicken processing plant. The county seat is Windsor. This is like Times Square of Windsor that you're looking at right now. It's home to only 2,000 people, and like a lot of other small towns it has been hollowed out over the years. There are more buildings that are empty or in disrepair than occupied and in use. You can count the number of restaurants in the county on one hand -- Bunn's Barbecue being my absolute favorite. But in the whole county there is no coffee shop, there's no Internet cafe, there's no movie theater, there's no bookstore. There isn't even a Walmart.
Pra, Komuna Bertie eshte jo vetem shume rurale, ajo eshte teper e varfer. Eshte komuna me e varfer ne shtet. Ajo ka nje nder tre femijet e saj qe jetojne ne varferi. Dhe eshte ajo qe i referohemi si geto rurale. Ekonomia eshte kryesisht bujqesore. Mbjelljet me te medha jane pambuku dhe duhani, dhe ne jemi shume krenare per kikirikun e Komunes Bertie. Biznesi me i madh eshte fabrika e perpunimit te pulave Purdue. Qendra e Komunes eshte Windsor. Kjo qe po shihni tani eshte si Times Square e Windsor. Banohet nga 2,000 njerez, dhe si shume qytete te tjera te vogla ajo po gerryhet gjate viteve. Aty ka me shume ndertesa qe jane bosh ose ne gjendje te keqe sesa te zena dhe ne perdorim. Ju mund te numeroni sasise e restoranteve ne komune me nje dore -- "Bunn's Barbecue" eshte absolutisht e preferuara ime. Por, ne te gjithe komunen nuk ka nje Kafe, nuk ka nje internet kafe, nuk ka nje kinema, nuk ka nje librari. Nuk ka as edhe nje Walmart.
Racially, the county is about 60 percent African-American, but what happens in the public schools is most of the privileged white kids go to the private Lawrence Academy. So the public school students are about 86 percent African-American. And this is a spread from the local newspaper of the recent graduating class, and you can see the difference is pretty stark. So to say that the public education system in Bertie County is struggling would be a huge understatement. There's basically no pool of qualified teachers to pull from, and only eight percent of the people in the county have a bachelor's degree or higher. So there isn't a big legacy in the pride of education. In fact, two years ago, only 27 percent of all the third- through eighth-graders were passing the state standard in both English and math.
Nga pikpamja raciale, komuna eshte rreth 60 perqind Afrikan Amerikan, dhe ajo qe ndodh me shkollat publike eshte qe femijet e bardhe me te priviligjuar shkojne ne Akademine private Laurence. Keshtu qe studentet e shkollave publike jane rreth 86 perqind Afrikano Amerikan. Dhe kjo eshte nje e dhene nga gazetat lokale e klasave te fundit te diplomuara,, dhe ju mund ta shihni qe diferenca eshte shume e zymte. Pra, per te thene qe sistemi i edukimit publik ne Komunen Bertie po lufton, eshte goxha e zvogeluar. Ne parim nuk ka rezerva te mesuesve te kualifikuar per tu terhequr nga kjo. Dhe vetem tete perqind e njerezve ne komune kane nje arsimim unversiteti ose me te larte. Pra, nuk eshte nje trashegimi e madhe ne krenarine e arsimimit. Ne te vertete, 2 vjet me pare, vetem 27 perqind e studenteve nga klasa e trete deri te e teta kaluan standartin e shtetit si ne anglisht ashtu edhe ne matematike.
So it sounds like I'm painting a really bleak picture of this place, but I promise there is good news. The biggest asset, in my opinion, one of the biggest assets in Bertie County right now is this man: This is Dr. Chip Zullinger, fondly known as Dr. Z. He was brought in in October 2007 as the new superintendent to basically fix this broken school system. And he previously was a superintendent in Charleston, South Carolina and then in Denver, Colorado. He started some of the country's first charter schools in the late '80s in the U.S. And he is an absolute renegade and a visionary, and he is the reason that I now live and work there. So in February of 2009, Dr. Zullinger invited us, Project H Design -- which is a non-profit design firm that I founded -- to come to Bertie and to partner with him on the repair of this school district and to bring a design perspective to the repair of the school district. And he invited us in particular because we have a very specific type of design process -- one that results in appropriate design solutions in places that don't usually have access to design services or creative capital. Specifically, we use these six design directives, probably the most important being number two: we design with, not for -- in that, when we're doing humanitarian-focused design, it's not about designing for clients anymore. It's about designing with people, and letting appropriate solutions emerge from within.
Keshtu qe tingellon sikur une jam duke pikturuar me te vertete nje pikture te zhveshur te ketij vendi, por une ju premtoj qe ka lajme te mira. Pasuria me e madhe, sipas opinionit tim, nje nder pasurite me te medha ne komunen Bertie tashme, eshte ky burre. Ky eshte Dr. Chip Zullinger, njohur me dashuri si Dr. Z. Ai eshte sjelle ne tetor te 2007 si mbikqyresi i ri per te rregulluar ne thelb kete sistem shkollor te thyer. Dhe ai perpara ishte nje mbikqyres ne Charleston, ne Karolinen e Jugut dhe me pas ne Denver, Kolorado. Ai filloi disa nga e shkollat e para charter te komunes ne fund te viteve 80 ne SHBA. Ai eshte nje renegat absolut dhe nje vizionar, dhe ai eshte arsyeja qe une tani jetoj dhe punoj ketu. Keshtu ne shkurt te 2009, Dr. Zullinger na ftoi ne, Projekti Dizajn H -- eshte nje firme dizajni jo fitimprures qe krijova- te vinim ne Bertie dhe te bashkepunonim me te per te riparuar kete distrikt shkollor dhe per te sjelle nje prespektive dizenjimi ne te. Dhe ai na ftoi neve ne vecanti sepse ne kemi nje lloj shume specifik te procesit te projektimit -- nje qe rezulton ne zgjidhje te pershtatshme dizajni ne vende qe zakonisht nuk kane qasje te dizenjojne sherbime ose kapitale krijues. Në mënyrë specifike, ne perdorim keto gjashte direktiva te dizenjimit, e ndoshta me e rendesishja eshte numri dy: ne dizenjojme me, jo per -- ne kuptimin qe, kur bejme dizenjime te fokusuara ne bamiresi, nuk eshte me te dizenjosh per klientet; eshte rreth dizenjimit me njerezit, dhe te lejosh zgjidhjet e duhura te dalin nga brenda.
So at the time of being invited down there, we were based in San Francisco, and so we were going back and forth for basically the rest of 2009, spending about half our time in Bertie County. And when I say we, I mean Project H, but more specifically, I mean myself and my partner, Matthew Miller, who's an architect and a sort of MacGyver-type builder. So fast-forward to today, and we now live there. I have strategically cut Matt's head out of this photo, because he would kill me if he knew I was using it because of the sweatsuits. But this is our front porch. We live there. We now call this place home. Over the course of this year that we spent flying back and forth, we realized we had fallen in love with the place. We had fallen in love with the place and the people and the work that we're able to do in a rural place like Bertie County, that, as designers and builders, you can't do everywhere. There's space to experiment and to weld and to test things. We have an amazing advocate in Dr. Zullinger. There's a nobility of real, hands-on, dirt-under-your-fingernails work.
Keshtu qe ne kohen qe u ftuam atje, ne ishim te vendosur ne San Francisco. Keshtu qe ne shkonim e vinim gjate vitit 2009, duke shpenzuar rreth gjysmen e kohes ne Komunen Bertie. Dhe kur them ne, nenkuptoj Projektin H, por me specifikisht, nenkuptoj veten time dhe partnerin tim, Matthew Miller, qe eshte arkitekt dhe nje lloj ndertuesi tip-MacGyver. Pra, po te kaloj me shpejtesi tek e sotmja, dhe ne sot jetojme atje. Une, strategjikisht, kam prere koken e Matt nga kjo foto, sepse ai do me "vriste" po ta dinte qe une do e perdorja ate per shkak te tutave. Por, kjo eshte veranda jone nga perpara. Ne jetojme atje. Ne tani e quajme kete vend shtepine tone. Gjate ketij viti qe kaluam duke fluturuar sa andej - ketej, ne kuptuam qe kemi rene ne dashuri me kete vend. Ne kemi rene ne dashuri me vendin dhe me njerezit dhe me punen qe jemi ne gjendje te bejme ne vendet rurale si komuna Bertie, qe si dizenjues dhe ndertues, nuk mund ta bejme kudo. Ka hapesire per te eksperimentuar dhe per te bashkuar dhe per te provuar gjera. Ne kemi nje avokat te mahnitshem ne Dr. Zullinger. Ka nje fisnikeri te se vertetes, duart lart. poshtersi poshte thonjve tuaj te punes.
But beyond our personal reasons for wanting to be there, there is a huge need. There is a total vacuum of creative capital in Bertie County. There isn't a single licensed architect in the whole county. And so we saw an opportunity to bring design as this untouched tool, something that Bertie County didn't otherwise have, and to be sort of the -- to usher that in as a new type of tool in their tool kit. The initial goal became using design within the public education system in partnership with Dr. Zullinger -- that was why we were there. But beyond that, we recognized that Bertie County, as a community, was in dire need of a fresh perspective of pride and connectedness and of the creative capital that they were so much lacking. So the goal became, yes, to apply design within education, but then to figure out how to make education a great vehicle for community development.
Por pertej arsyeve tona personale per te dashur per te qene atje, ekziston nje nevoje e madhe. Ka nje vakum te pergjithshem te kapitalit krijues ne komunen Bertie. Nuk ka nje arkitekt te vetem te licensuar ne te gjithe komunen. Dhe keshtu ne pame nje mundesi per te sjelle dizenjim si ky mjet i paprekur, dicka qe si Komuna Bertie ndryshe nuk ka, dhe te jete lloj e -- te shoqerohet si nje lloj i ri mjeti ne kutine e tyre te mjeteve. Qellimi fillestar u be duke perdorur dizajnin brenda sistemit publik arsimor ne partneritet me Dr. Zullinger qe ishte dhe arsyeja qe pse ne jemi ketu. Por pertej saj, ne njohem qe Komuna Bertie si komunitet kishte nje nevoje urgjente per nje perspektive te fresket te krenarise, te lidhjes dhe te kapitalit krijues qe i mungonte atyre. Keshtu qe objektivi qe vume, ishte aplikimi i dizajnit ne kuader te mesimit, dhe pastaj te kuptuarit sesi te benim edukimin nje mjet te madh per zhvillimin e komunitetit.
So in order to do this, we've taken three different approaches to the intersection of design and education. And I should say that these are three things that we've done in Bertie County, but I feel pretty confident that they could work in a lot of other rural communities around the U.S. and maybe even beyond. So the first of the three is design for education. This is the most kind of direct, obvious intersection of the two things. It's the physical construction of improved spaces and materials and experiences for teachers and students. This is in response to the awful mobile trailers and the outdated textbooks and the terrible materials that we're building schools out of these days. And so this played out for us in a couple different ways. The first was a series of renovations of computer labs. So traditionally, the computer labs, particularly in an under-performing school like Bertie County, where they have to benchmark test every other week, the computer lab is a kill-and-drill testing facility. You come in, you face the wall, you take your test and you leave. So we wanted to change the way that students approach technology, to create a more convivial and social space that was more engaging, more accessible, and also to increase the ability for teachers to use these spaces for technology-based instruction. So this is the lab at the high school, and the principal there is in love with this room. Every time he has visitors, it's the first place that he takes them.
Pra, ne menyre qe te bejme kete, ne kemi marre tri qasje te ndryshme per nderthurjen e projektimit dhe te arsimit. Dhe une mund te them qe keto jane tre gjerat qe ne kemi bere ne Komunen Bertie, por une ndihem shume e sigurt qe ata mund te funksionojne ne shume komunitete te tjera rurale rreth SHBA dhe ndoshta edhe pertej. Pra, e para eshte dizenjimi per edukimin. Ky eshte lloji me i drejtperdrejte, i dukshem, nderthurja e dy gjerave. Eshte konstruksioni fizik i hapesirave te permiresuara, materialeve dhe eksperiencave per mesuesit dhe studentet. Kjo eshte ne pergjigje te rimorkiove te levizshme te tmerrshme dhe teksteve te vjeteruara dhe materialeve te tmerrshme qe po ndertojme shkollat sot. Dhe keshtu kjo eshte realizuar per ne ne disa menyra te ndryshme E para ishte nje seri rinovimesh te laboratoreve informatike. Pra, tradicionalisht, laboratoret informatike, vecanerisht ne nje shkolle e niveli te ulet si Komuna Bertie, ku ata duhet te testojne etapat njehere ne dy jave, e ku laboratori kompjuterik eshte nje objekt testesh te te mesuarit permendesh. Ti hyn, ulesh perballe murit, jep provimin dhe largohesh. Pra ne donim te ndryshonim menyren qe studentet qasin teknologjine, per te krijuar nje hapesire me gazmore e me sociale qe ishte me angazhuese, me e arritshme. Dhe gjithashtu per te rritur mundesine per mesuesit qe te perdorin keto hapesira per kurset e bazuar ne teknologjine. Ky eshte laboratori i gjimnazit. Dhe me kryesorja eshte qe ndodhet ne harmoni me kete dhome. Cdo here qe ka vizitore, ky eshte vendi i pare qe i tregojne.
And this also meant the co-creation with some teachers of this educational playground system called the learning landscape. It allows elementary-level students to learn core subjects through game play and activity and running around and screaming and being a kid. So this game that the kids are playing here -- in this case they were learning basic multiplication through a game called Match Me. And in Match Me, you take the class, divide it into two teams, one team on each side of the playground, and the teacher will take a piece of chalk and just write a number on each of the tires. And then she'll call out a math problem -- so let's say four times four -- and then one student from each team has to compete to figure out that four times four is 16 and find the tire with the 16 on it and sit on it. So the goal is to have all of your teammates sitting on the tires and then your team wins. And the impact of the learning landscape has been pretty surprising and amazing. Some of the classes and teachers have reported higher test scores, a greater comfort level with the material, especially with the boys, that in going outside and playing, they aren't afraid to take on a double-digit multiplication problem -- and also that the teachers are able to use these as assessment tools to better gauge how their students are understanding new material. So with design for education, I think the most important thing is to have a shared ownership of the solutions with the teachers, so that they have the incentive and the desire to use them. So this is Mr. Perry. He's the assistant superintendent. He came out for one of our teacher-training days and won like five rounds of Match Me in a row and was very proud of himself.
Dhe kjo gjithashtu nenkupton bashke-krijimin me disa mesues te ketij sistemi lojrash edukativ te quajtur peizazhi i te mesuarit. Kjo i lejon nxenesit e nivelit fillor te mesojne subjektet kryesore nepermjet lojrave dhe aktiviteteve dhe duke vrapuar perreth e bertitur dhe duke u sjelle si femi. Pra, kjo loje qe femijet jane duke luajtur ketu - ne kete rast, ishin duke mesuar shumezimet baze nepermjet nje loje te quajtur "Me Gjej Mua". Dhe ne "Me Gjej Mua", e merr klasen, e ndan ate ne dy grupe, cdo grup ne nje ane te sheshit te lojrave dhe mesuesi merr nje cope shkumesi dhe shkruan vetem nje numer ne cdonjeren prej gomave. Dhe me pas ajo do te shfaqe nje problem matematikor -- le te themi kater here kater -- dhe me pas nje nxenes nga cdo grup eshte ne gare me tjetrin per te gjetur qe kater here kater bejne 16 dhe te gjeje gomen me numrin 16 te shenuar dhe te ulet ne te. Pra, qellimi eshte qe te gjithe shoket e grupit tend te jene te ulur mbi gomat dhe skuadra jote fiton. Dhe ndikimi i metodes se te mesuarit te peizazhit ka qene shume surprizues dhe mahnites. Disa nga klasat dhe mesuesit kane raportuar rezultate te larta ne provime, nje nivel me te madh komoditeti me materialin kryesisht me djemte, qe duke qene jashte e duke luajtur, nuk kane frike per te marre nje problem dyshifror shumezimi -- dhe gjithashtu qe mesuesit jane te gatshem per ta perdorur kete si mjet vleresimi per te vleresuar me mire sesi studentet po kuptojne materialet e reja. Keshtu qe me dizenjimin per edukim, une mendoj qe gjeja me e rendesishme eshte te kesh nje pronesi te perbashket zgjidhjesh me mesuesit, ne menyre qe ato te kene nxitje dhe deshira ne perdorimin e tyre. Ky eshte. Z. Perry. Ai eshte mbikqyres asistent. Ai doli njeren prej diteve te trajnimit te mesuesve dhe fitoi pothuajse pese raunde te "Me Gjej Mua" dhe ishte shume krenar per veten e tij.
(Laughter)
(Te qeshura)
So the second approach is redesigning education itself. This is the most complex. It's a systems-level look at how education is administered and what is being offered and to whom. So in many cases this is not so much about making change as it is creating the conditions under which change is possible and the incentive to want to make change, which is easier said than done in rural communities and in inside-the-box education systems in rural communities. So for us, this was a graphic public campaign called Connect Bertie. There are thousands of these blue dots all over the county. And this was for a fund that the school district had to put a desktop computer and a broadband Internet connection in every home with a child in the public school system. Right now I should say, there are only 10 percent of the houses that actually have an in-home Internet connection. And the only places to get WiFi are in the school buildings, or at the Bojangles Fried Chicken joint, which I find myself squatting outside of a lot. Aside from, you know, getting people excited and wondering what the heck these blue dots were all over the place, it asked the school system to envision how it might become a catalyst for a more connected community. It asked them to reach outside of the school walls and to think about how they could play a role in the community's development. So the first batch of computers are being installed later this summer, and we're helping Dr. Zullinger develop some strategies around how we might connect the classroom and the home to extend learning beyond the school day.
Qasja e dyte eshte ridizenjimi i arsimit ne vetvete. Ky eshte me i kompleks. Eshte nje veshtrim ne nivelin e sistemeve mbi menyren sesi administrohet edukimi dhe sesi e kujt i ofrohet. Pra, ne shume raste kjo nuk eshte dhe aq rreth te ndryshuarit sesa eshte per te krijuar kushtet nen te cilat ndryshimi eshte i mundshem dhe nxitjes per te dashur qe te besh ndryshim, qe eshte me e lehte per tu thene sesa per tu bere ne komunitetet rurale dhe brenda kutise se sistemit edukativ ne komunitet rurale. Keshtu qe per ne, kjo ishte nje fushate publike grafike e quajtur Te Lidhesh Bertie. Ka mijera si keto pika blu ne te gjithe komunen. Dhe kjo ishte per nje fond qe rrethi i shkolles kishte qe te vendoste nje kompjuter dhe nje lidhje interneti ne cdo shtepi me nje femije ne sistemin shkollor publik. Tani une mund te them, jane vetem 10% e shtepive qe aktualisht kane lidhje interneti ne shtepi. Dhe te vetmet vende per te marre WiFi jane ndertesat e shkollave, ose tek restoranti " Pule e Skuqur Bojangles", tek e cila une gjej veten te ulur jashte shume here. Pervec kesaj, ju e dini, qe njerezit te interesohen dhe te pyesin cfare dreqin jane keto pika blu gjithandej, iu kerkua sistemit te shkolles per te parashikuar sesi ai mund te behet nje katalizator per nje komunitet me te lidhur. Iu kerkua qe te kapercenin muret e shkolles dhe te mendonin rreth menyres sesi ato mund te luajne nje rol ne zhvillimin e komunitetit. Pra, grupi i pare i kompjuterave jane duke u instaluar kete vere, dhe ne po ndihmojme Dr. Zullinger per te zhvilluar disa strategji rreth menyres sesi ne mund te lidhim klasen dhe shtepine per te zgjeruar mesimin pertej kohes se shkolles.
And then the third approach, which is what I'm most excited about, which is where we are now, is: design as education. So "design as education" means that we could actually teach design within public schools, and not design-based learning -- not like "let's learn physics by building a rocket," but actually learning design-thinking coupled with real construction and fabrication skills put towards a local community purpose. It also means that designers are no longer consultants, but we're teachers, and we are charged with growing creative capital within the next generation. And what design offers as an educational framework is an antidote to all of the boring, rigid, verbal instruction that so many of these school districts are plagued by. It's hands-on, it's in-your-face, it requires an active engagement, and it allows kids to apply all the core subject learning in real ways. So we started thinking about the legacy of shop class and how shop class -- wood and metal shop class in particular -- historically, has been something intended for kids who aren't going to go to college. It's a vocational training path. It's working-class; it's blue-collar. The projects are things like, let's make a birdhouse for your mom for Christmas. And in recent decades, a lot of the funding for shop class has gone away entirely.
Dhe me pas, qasja e trete, per te cilen une jam me e lumtur, eshte ajo ku ne jemi tani, qe eshte dizenjimi si edukim. Pra, dizenjimi per edukim nenkupton qe ne aktualisht mund t'ju mesojme dizenjim ne shkollat publike, dhe jo te mesuarit te bazuar mbi dizajnin -- nuk eshte si-- hajde te mesojme fizike duke ndertuar nje rakete -- por aktualisht te mesojme dizenjim duke menduar per ndertimin real dhe aftesite e fabrikimit per qellimin e komunitetit lokal. Ajo gjithashtu nenkupton qe dizenjuesit nuk jane me keshillues, por jane mesues, dhe jane te ngarkuar per te rritur kapitalin krijues te brezave te ardhshem. Dhe cfare dizenjimi ofron si nje kornize edukative eshte nje kunderhelm per te gjithe udhezimet verbale te merzitshme e te ngurta nga te cilat jane rrenuar shume rrethe shkollash . Eshte nje eksperience praktike, konkrete, qe kerkon nje angazhim aktiv, dhe i lejon femijet te aplikojne praktikisht subjektet thelbësore ne realitet. Keshtu qe ne filluam te mendojme ne lidhje me trashegimine e mesimit te punes praktike dhe sesi kjo ore -- vecanerisht puna me dru dhe metal -- historikisht, ka qene dicka me synim per femijet qe nuk kane per te shkuar ne universitet. Kjo eshte nje rruge e formimit profesional. Eshte per klasen punetore. Projektet jane gjera te tilla si, le te bejme nje shtepi zogjsh per mamane tuaj per Krishtlindje. Dhe ne dekadat e fundit, nje shume e fondeve per mesimin e punes praktike ka mbaruar menjehere.
So we thought, what if you could bring back shop class, but this time orient the projects around things that the community needed, and to infuse shop class with a more critical and creative-design-thinking studio process. So we took this kind of nebulous idea and have worked really closely with Dr. Zullinger for the past year on writing this as a one-year curriculum offered at the high school level to the junior class. And so this starts in four weeks, at the end of the summer, and my partner and I, Matthew and I, just went through the arduous and totally convoluted process of getting certified as high school teachers to actually run it. And this is what it looks like.
Keshtu qe ne menduam, cfare ndodh nese sjellim perseri oren e punes praktike, por kete here duke orientuar projektet rreth gjerave qe ka nevoje komuniteti, dhe te mbushim mesimin e punes praktike me me shume mendime dizenjimi kritik dhe krijues te procesit te studios. Keshtu qe ne morem kete lloj mendimi dhe kemi punuar vertet afer Dr. Zullinger per vitet e fundit per ta shkruar ate si nje program nje - vjecar ofruar nivelit te gjimnazeve ne vitin e pare. Dhe keshtu qe kjo fillon per kater jave, ne fund te veres. Une dhe partneri im, Matthew dhe une, sapo kaluam permes procesit te veshtire dhe teresisht te nderlikuar per t'u certifikuar si mesues gjimnazi qe ta drejtojme kete. Dhe ja si eshte.
So over the course of two semesters, the Fall and the Spring, the students spend three hours a day every single day in our 4,500 square foot studio/shop space. And during that time, they're doing everything from going out and doing ethnographic research and doing the need-finding, coming back into the studio, doing the brainstorming and design visualization to come up with concepts that might work, and then moving into the shop and actually testing them, building them, prototyping them, figuring out if they are going to work and refining that. And then over the summer, they're offered a summer job. They're paid as employees of Project H to be the construction crew with us to build these projects in the community. So the first project, which will be built next summer, is an open-air farmers' market downtown, followed by bus shelters for the school bus system in the second year and home improvements for the elderly in the third year. So these are real visible projects that hopefully the students can point to and say, "I built that, and I'm proud of it."
Keshtu gjate rrjedhjes se dy simestrave, vjeshtes dhe pranveres, studentet shpenzojne tre ore ne dite, cdo dite ne 420 metra katror te studios/klases se punes. Dhe gjate asaj kohe, ato mund te bejne gjithcka qe nga dalja per kerkime etnografike dhe cfare nevojitet, duke u rikthyer ne studio, duke realizuar ide dhe vizualizime dizajni duke adhur ne perfundime te koncepteve qe mund te funksionojne, dhe me pas duke levizur brenda studios dhe aktualisht duke i testuar ato, ndertuar ato, individualizuar ato, duke kuptuar nese ato do te punojne dhe duke i rafinuar ato. Dhe me pas gjate veres, atyre u jane ofruar pune verore. Ato jane paguar si punonjes te Projektit H per te qene ekuipazh i ndertimit me ne per te ndertuar kete projekt ne komunitet. Keshtu qe projekti i pare, qe do te ndertohet veres qe vjen, eshte nje treg i hapur fermeresh ne qender te qytetit i ndjekur nga strehat e autobuzeve per sistemin e autobuzave shkollore ne vitin e dyte dhe rregullimet shtepiake per te moshuarit ne vitin e trete. Pra keto jane projekte reale te dukshme qe shpresj studentet mund tju drejtohen dhe te thone "Une e ndertova ate, dhe une jam krenar per te."
So I want you to meet three of our students. This is Ryan. She is 15 years old. She loves agriculture and wants to be a high school teacher. She wants to go to college, but she wants to come back to Bertie County, because that's where her family is from, where she calls home, and she feels very strongly about giving back to this place that she's been fairly fortunate in. So what Studio H might offer her is a way to develop skills so that she might give back in the most meaningful way.
Une dua te takoni tre prej studenteve tane. Kjo eshte Ryan. Ajo eshte 15 vjece. Ajo e adhuron bujqesine dhe do te behet nje mesuese gjimnazi. Ajo deshiron qe te shkoje ne universitet, por ajo do qe te kthehet ne Komunen Bertie, sepse ky eshte vendi nga eshte familja e saj, vendlindja, ajo ndihet shume e sigurte ne lidhje me ate qe duhet te ktheje tek ky vend qe ajo ka qene mjaft me fat te jetoje. Keshtu qe cfare Studio H mund ti ofroje asaj eshte rruga qe te zhvilloje aftesite keshtu qe ajo mund te investoj mbrapsht ne menyren me kuptimplote.
This is Eric. He plays for the football team. He is really into dirtbike racing, and he wants to be an architect. So for him, Studio H offers him a way to develop the skills he will need as an architect, everything from drafting to wood and metal construction to how to do research for a client.
Ky eshte Eric. Ai luan per nje skuader futbolli. Ai merr pjese ne garat me motocikleta, dhe do te behet arkitekt. Keshtu qe per te, Studio H ofron rrugen per zhvillimin e aftesise qe do i duhet si arkitekt, cdo gje qe nga vizatimi, tek druri dhe konstruksionet metalike, tek menyra sesi te beje kerkime per nje klient.
And then this is Anthony. He is 16 years old, loves hunting and fishing and being outside and doing anything with his hands, and so for him, Studio H means that he can stay interested in his education through that hands-on engagement. He's interested in forestry, but he isn't sure, so if he ends up not going to college, he will have developed some industry-relevant skills.
Dhe me pas, ky eshte Anthony. Ai eshte 16 vjec, adhuron gjuetine, peshkimin, natyren dhe te beje gjera me duart e tij. Dhe keshtu qe per te, Studio H do te thote qe ai mund te qendroje i interesuar ne edukimin e tij nepermjet atij angazhimi aktiv. Ai eshte i interesuar ne pyjet, por ai nuk eshte i sigurte, pra, nese ai perfundon duke mos shkuar ne universitet, ai do te kete zhvilluar disa aftesi perkatese te industrise.
What design and building really offers to public education is a different kind of classroom. So this building downtown, which may very well become the site of our future farmers' market, is now the classroom. And going out into the community and interviewing your neighbors about what kind of food they buy and from where and why -- that's a homework assignment. And the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the end of the summer when they have built the farmers' market and it's open to the public -- that's the final exam. And for the community, what design and building offers is real, visible, built progress. It's one project per year, and it makes the youth the biggest asset and the biggest untapped resource in imagining a new future.
Cfare dizajni dhe ndertimi ne te vertete i ofron edukimit publik eshte nje lloj tjeter klase. Keshtu qe kjo ndertese ne qender te qytetit, qe mundet shume mire te behet vendi i tregut te fermereve tane te ardhshem, tani eshte klasa. Dhe te shkosh jashte ne komunitet dhe te intervistosh fqinjet tuaj rreth cfare lloj ushqimi ato blejne dhe prej kujt dhe pse, kjo edhe nje detyre shtepie. Dhe fjongoja e prere e ceremonise ne fund te veres kur ato do te kene ndertuar tregun e fermereve dhe do te jete e hapur per publikun, ky eshte provimi perfundimtar. Dhe per komunitetin, cfare dizenjuesit dhe ndertuesit ofrojne eshte i vertete, i dukshem, progres i ndertuar. Eshte nje projekt per vit. Dhe kjo i ben te rinjte pasurine me te madhe dhe burimin me te madh te pashfrytezuar ne imagjinimin te nje te ardhmeje te re.
So we recognize that Studio H, especially in its first year, is a small story -- 13 students, it's two teachers, it's one project in one place. But we feel like this could work in other places. And I really, strongly believe in the power of the small story, because it is so difficult to do humanitarian work at a global scale. Because, when you zoom out that far, you lose the ability to view people as humans.
Pra, ne pranojme qe Studio H, sidomos ne vitin e pare, eshte nje histori e vogel -- jane 13 studente, dy mesues, eshte nje projekt ne nje vend. Por ne ndihemi sikur kjo mund te funksionoje ne vende te tjera. Dhe une me te vertet, fuqimisht besoj ne fuqine e historive te vogla, sepse eshte shume e veshtire te besh pune humanitare ne shkalle globale. Sepse, kur ju perqendroheni per aq larg, ju humbisni mundesine per ti pare njerezit si njerez.
Ultimately, design itself is a process of constant education for the people that we work with and for and for us as designers. And let's face it, designers, we need to reinvent ourselves. We need to re-educate ourselves around the things that matter, we need to work outside of our comfort zones more, and we need to be better citizens in our own backyard. So while this is a very small story, we hope that it represents a step in the right direction for the future of rural communities and for the future of public education and hopefully also for the future of design.
Ne fund te fundit, dizajni ne vetvete eshte nje proces i nje edukimi te vazhdueshem per njerezit me dhe per te cilet punojme dhe per ne si projektues. Dhe le te perballemi me te, dizenjues, ne duhet te rizbulojme veten. Ne duhet te ri-edukojme veten rreth gjerave qe vlejne, ne duhet te punojme me shume jashte zonave tona te rehatshme, dhe duhet te behemi qytetare me te mire ne oborrin tone te shtepise. Pra, nderkoje qe kjo eshte nje histori e vogel, ne shpresojme qe kjo perfaqeson nje hap ne drejtmin e duhur per te ardhmen e komuniteteve rurale, per te ardhmen e edukimit publik, dhe gjithashtu me shpresen per te ardhmen e dizenjimit.
Thank you.
Ju faleminderit.
(Applause)
(Duartrokitje)