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Happy back to school for our DC students and families! In this edition, we’re highlighting our visits to public high schools across the city. As our agency leads long-term planning for the District government, we believe it’s important to speak with teens, in part because the outcomes of this planning work will be most felt by today’s young people. We’re inspired by these visits and the students we interact with and wish everyone the best for this school year!
Sincerely,
Anita Cozart
Director, DC Office of Planning
There are a few factors driving our visits to DC high schools, which we’ve done on roughly a twice-yearly basis since the 2022-2023 school year. Firstly, very few young people have awareness of planning as a future career path, so we speak to classes to share our journeys into planning and what our jobs are like. Secondly, we want to raise awareness about the importance of planning and why teens should consider sharing their input for planning projects. As we conduct public engagement to support our plans, we have found that young people are one of the least-represented demographics in our data and we’re committed to ensuring all communities in DC have a voice in the process. |
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What do our visits look like? Typically, we coordinate with one or two teachers to lead their class for the day. We present planning as a career option and immerse students in life-like planning exercises. For example, we challenge students to review demographic data and make decisions about what should be built in a neighborhood to serve the population that lives there. We display public spaces and debate how well they serve young people’s needs. We also look at maps and talk about what makes certain locations desirable and uncomfortable for the students to spend time.
Overall, we have visited 24 classes at 11 high schools, speaking with over 1,100 students in total. Want us to come to your DCPS or Public Charter high school? Contact us at planning@dc.gov.
Thanks to everyone who submitted their feedback on the draft RFK Campus Master Plan! We appreciate those who invested their time, organized their communities, and spread the word. Thanks to you, we received over 3,000 comments from more than 1,200 people through the online comment form, in-person outreach events, and email.
Our team is reviewing every comment and will make revisions to the final version of the plan where possible.
This year, our Ward 7 Implementation Program has been implementing recommendations from previous small area plans developed in Ward 7. One of our grantees, the Greater Washington Urban League, has been working to activate public space in Ward 7 through the Ward 7 Seniors-Only Lunchtime Mix & Mingle. Weekly events each Thursday this month have brought together Ward 7 seniors for food, fellowship, live entertainment, and opportunities to connect with District agencies and organizations supporting seniors.
The final event in the series will be held this week on Thursday, September 3rd. If you would like to join, please register in advance on the Eventbrite page.
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