Citylab HS Foundation

The Second Annual 2022 City Collaborator Awards: An event that recognizes and celebrates the dynamic connections between education and urban development - the core of CityLab High School's robust, rigorous curriculum. The City Collaborator Awards recognizes change-makers who link educational opportunities for students with multiple aspects of the built environment. The honorees are not only truly worthy of the recognition, but they are also inspiring examples of the values we teach our students: compassion, collaboration, citizenship, creativity, community, and commitment. CityLab Collaborator Award: Designs Building upon the original design of the City Collaborator Award created by CityLab HS co-founder Lorena Toffer, AIA, three student teams worked to create a custom award for 2022 in partnership with fabricator Studio 217. Their designs evolved from initial discussions about the original award as inspiration and the recipient, honoree Miguel Solis, to drawings. Following that step, they went through a refining process aided by ongoing discussions with Studio 217 on materials and structural integrity. Through this hands-on collaboration with professional mentorship, the teams each produced an incredible option for the Event Committee's vote. Ultimately, the floating hexagon on lucite was chosen but Studio 217 is creating each design for the students to have in their portfolio for college as well as to display at CityLab High School. Creativity truly breeds innovation.

The 5th Annual Greening Dallas Sustainability Summit: The annual Summit is the perfect example of how unique CityLab High School is - CityLab Foundation not only brought together youth focused on Architecture, Urban Planning, and the Environment but provided hands-on opportunities with professional mentors to make a difference in our community. The Greening Dallas Sustainability Summit was a three-day combination of a robust discussion led by Dallas professionals on the importance of diversity in urban planning partnered with an exciting panel of experts interacting with our students and their creation of an app for Fair Park and its surrounding area truly addresses the big picture we want every student to grasp. Our CityLab students were able to use Fair Park as a classroom to not only understand architecture and design, but also learn the impact and future realities of urban planning, while simultaneously addressing equity and access challenges that impact the surrounding area and residents. The Summit provided the students of CityLab High School an excellent and unique opportunity to engage in forward-thinking dialogue on urban planning, meaningful civic engagement, and the built environment with professionals, educators, and the community. Cahns Fellows Program: The CityLab High School Foundation approved the grant requested for CityLab High School to attend the Cahns Fellows Program to observe two schools in New York City. Approving funding to attend the Cahns Fellows Program, provided staff and students the opportunity to gain skills, insights, and connections that will benefit all CityLab High School. A goal of the foundation is to assist with projects that will benefit CityLab and use design thinking to implement and plan projects. CityLab High School Foundation finds value in best practices to see what other schools like ours are implementing to gain insight into what we can do to improve CityLab. This was an opportunity that was of minimal cost as Cahns Fellow Program paid for the flights to New York and two nights hotel. The CityLab attendees arrived a day early and observe two Public Architecture Schools. Learning from other schools was one of the cornerstones of professional development that CityLab was founded on. CityLab High School Foundation continues to advocate and provide financial assistance to develop programs where essential skills, knowledge, and connections result in students who are college and career ready. Students will come out of CityLab with innovative skills they need to go into the workplace or successfully engage in postsecondary studies in one of the three pathways. Future Farmers of America Competitions: Future Farmers of America is an integral part of the curriculum of the courses that we offer in the Environmental Sustainability Pathway at CityLab High School. FFA is an intra-curricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education. Students learn about an area of agriculture that interests and will gain hands-on experience through FFA. Students also have opportunities to enter competitions and network with other high schools. Thirty-Six students participated in FFA competitions that provided opportunities for school exposure and recognition. This is the one organization that the Dallas ISD CTE (Career and Technical Education Department) supports as well. CityLab focuses on urban farming though FFA projects and in FFA competitions.