Spotlight on Middle School Insights

Students returned from winter break to experience what just might be the best week of the year: Middle School Insights Week, where students get to choose an experiential course on which to focus their attention all day, every day for five days.

One of this year’s inaugural Insights’ classes is called “Divine Design,” where students were tasked with reimagining the Middle School faculty lounge and workspace on the same budget all Insights classes are given.
 
After a crash course in design principles including space, form, light and color, the students met with Middle School Director Michelle Harris to learn about her vision for the space - “a warm and welcoming place where teachers can retreat, even if just for a few moments between classes.” To help turn this vision into a tangible reality, the students then looked to Pinterest and Houzz for design ideas. To create a feeling of a homey work space, they proposed a number of cozy textiles to Dr. Harris for consideration as well as a practical desk nook. They also worked to achieve balance in the lighting by including both task and ambient lighting.
 
The class then visited the Upper School Fab Lab to build their proposed desk and wall art installation. Having lost a day due to inclement weather, several team members even stayed after school on day four to pull it all together. As Dr. Harris attests, the results were “stunning.” She adds, “Their success was a combination of right- and left-brained thinking - the essence of good design - and a whole lot of heart.”
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An independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school, toddler through grade 12

Early Childhood, Lower, and Middle Schools, 5000 Clubside Rd, Lyndhurst, OH 44124
Birchwood School of Hawken, 4400 West 140th Street, Cleveland, OH 44135 

Upper School, PO Box 8002 (12465 County Line Rd), Gates Mills, OH 44040
Mastery School of Hawken, 11025 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106

Gries Center, 10823 Magnolia Dr, Cleveland, OH 44106

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