SUNY ESF
West Genesee Central School
West Genesee Central School District Partners with
ESF in the High School
SUNY ESF proudly welcomes the West Genesee Central School District as a partner in the ESF in the High School Program. The District’s mission statement and two of their (7) Strategic Focus statements (below) lend themselves naturally to this collaborative relationship with SUNY ESF.
- Continue to Enhance College Level Experiences for High School Students
- Develop Strategies that Provide Deeper Understanding of Cultural Diversity and Global Awareness
Global Environment (EFB120), offered through the ESF in the High School Program, will be offered by West Genesee Central Schools in the 2009-2010 academic year. This school/college partnership program will enable qualified students to:
- experience college-level course work while still in high school.
- understand the complex scientific and social perspectives behind the environmental issues that make headlines every day such as the relationship between energy and the environment.
- learn about and explore diverse interests and career opportunities in environmental science, engineering, management, policy and design – and in related areas such as law, communications, technology and medicine.
Recently, ESF Outreach also had the opportunity to connect the West Genesee School District with SUNY ESF as they sought the expertise of one of ESF's eight academic departments. Students enrolled in the SUNY ESF Landscape Architecture course, Planting Design & Practice (LSA433/633), taught by Timothy Toland, were given the opportunity to work on a service-learning project for the West Genesee School District. Having completed a substantial addition and expansion of the high school athletic fields, Christopher Brown, Superintendent of the District, challenged the SUNY ESF Landscape Architecture Department to offer designs for memorial installations on the high school grounds. Prompted by requests that the district received asking to honor individuals, as well as groups (such as past athletic coaches), students enrolled in LSA433/633 evaluated the high school grounds, located on West Genesee Street, sandwiched between a shopping center, a golf course and a residential neighborhood.
Charged to explore ways to integrate well thought out, comprehensive plans for memorial installations on school grounds, the 25 students submitted a variety of projects. Solutions were to include simple trees and plantings that are hardy to this area, long-lived and appropriate for memorial planting, as well as plazas, walls, seating areas and other spaces that could incorporate monuments, signs and other markers.
Student designs that are highlighted on this page reflect some of the choices that were submitted to the West Genesee District for further consideration. Both the client and the academic collaborators agreed that the original intent of this project had been addressed successfully and it provided ESF's students the opportunity to work with a client on a real program with a real need to give ideas that would be used as a starting point for their future development.
This partnership and collaboration with the West Genesee School District exemplifies the aspect of SUNY ESF’s Strategic Plan 2020 that states:
As part of the State University of New York, our service to the community extends beyond the bounds of our campus. We are committed to sharing our discoveries and knowledge with public and private constituencies, organizations and citizens throughout our state, our nation, and indeed our world.
West Genesee HS Memorial Installation Plans
(Top 4 graded projects)