Eighth-graders learning citizenship through city planning project
October 24, 2014
Eighth-grade social studies students at Horizon Middle School are proposing projects for a new business, city park, school or recreation center as a part of a city development project.
The students are learning about citizenship, including how citizens contribute to a community through action and investments in the community. The project also includes geography and basic economic principles.
Horizon students heard from a local expert on planning as they began their project. Kristie Leshovsky, the Moorhead City Planner, provided an overview of what city planners consider in their work.
Leshovsky told the students that city planners need to consider people. Where people are going to live, where they will work, where they will go school and where they will go to have fun all factor into a city planner’s work, she said.
“Once we have growth areas we need to figure out property lines, roads, utilities,” Leshovsky said.
She described how planners must consider how many more people there will be in the future and what they will need. Leshovsky also spoke about differences between new development and redevelopment, which can provide opportunities to build in the core of a city, and she highlighted the 2014 river corridor master plan.
Students brainstormed some ideas for their development projects, and Leshovsky responded to questions about projects planned for Moorhead and considerations students should keep in mind as they work on their development projects.
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