Problem-solving as education: Philadelphia’s Sustainability Workshop

Hour 1

Twenty-eight Philadelphia public high school seniors, who have proven their strengths in math, science and engineering, have been participating in a new alternative project on the edge of the Navy Yard. This pilot program, the Sustainability Workshop, which began last September, is a student-centered, project-based, hands-on learning environment where the students focus on solving real problems in the world. One of the group projects the students are working on is developing an energy-efficient heating and cooling design for their school, a former residential mansion. Our guests, the founders, teachers, principals, fundraisers, and default “lunch ladies,” are SIMON HAUGER, who founded and led the award-winning West Philadelphia Hybrid X Team, which is now housed at the Sustainability Workshop; and MICHAEL CLAPPER, an educator who quit his tenure-track position at St. Joseph’s University to commit to this school.

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[audio: 021712_100630.mp3]