Many of the schools in rural Alabama are in an incredible state of physical and emotional disrepair because they have been historically understaffed, under funded, and building maintenance has been limited to emergency repairs. The physical condition of schools such as the Sunshine School (near the small town of Newbern) communicate to the students and teachers that no one at the local, state or federal level cares. Why should they care enough to maintain their school, behave well or succeed educationally? Indeed, schools such as Sunshine are often not only physically decrepit, but also in emotional shambles. Students at Sunshine routinely and purposely fail to mention the name of their school when out in public because they are ashamed of its condition.

For much of my Outreach Fellowship at the Rural Studio I attempted to find solutions to these problems and at the same time create models for how architects can more easily and effectively become involved in their communities, and schools. The cornerstone of my work at Sunshine was empowering the students to take over the school. Students controlled every aspect of the process. They identified the problems (they began by photography everything they didn’t like about their school), they prioritized repairs, they came up with solutions, they chose the colors of paint, they picked up trash, they replaced windows, they designed murals, demolished derelict structures, certain students led and taught large groups of students how to complete certain tasks and they even made the picture frames to remind everyone of how much the school had accomplished. Their output and enthusiasm was remarkable. I was constantly besieged by students with offers to help out, no matter how mundane the task or project.