Engagement with Sunny Side District

By Adriana Zuniga
03/09/18 07:15:pm

On July 20, 2017, we met with Dr. Eugenia Favela, Assistant to the Superintendent of the Sunny Side School District and Marsha Flores, Principal of STAR Academic High School at their offices in 2238 E Ginter Rd. During this meeting, we discussed several ways in which green infrastructure projects could be developed in school grounds by bringing in the school community, the surrounding community, and the community at large. Principal Flores talked about creating a student club “STAR Barrio Verde” to develop these projects that would be open to the community and using their facilities for community engagement. They want to hold an open forum where leaders can emerge to take individual projects under their supervision.

We met with Dr. Favela and Principal Flores again on October 26. 2017 to discuss the potential use of the facilities at STAR Academic High School for a Visioning Event scheduled for November 4, 2017. We also talked about the engagement progress at STAR and the idea of using their site for a studio class in the Masters of Landscape Architecture program under the direction of Prof. Bo Yang. They were pleased with the idea of having a vision for the school grounds that considers the input of faculty, students and staff. They also liked the idea of students conducting a survey to collect this information as part of their science class. During this meeting, we also discussed the plans to apply for funding to implement green infrastructure in STAR Academic High School. This project would train STAR students in this type of work, which can offer opportunities for jobs after graduation. This project would also involve a mentorship program where university students could serve as role models for high school students. Finally this project would involve other areas, including potential artwork and an educational component. Dr. Favela and Principal Flores agreed to issue a letter of support for a grant application to do green infrastructure in their school. This project could serve as a model for other schools in their district.

We visited Dr. Favela and Principal Flores again on January 17, 2018. This time we talked about our application to the Green Fund at the University of Arizona. We shared with them our proposal and the potential impacts on their school and students. We asked for a letter of support to include in our application and they agreed to issue them for us, and wished us good luck in getting the grant.