Building UP

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Here is the view from the front door of the Perkins School.  The kids inside our school clearly aren't the only ones who are busy.  The construction crews across the street have been working every Monday through Friday.  Even in the rain.  Even on April and February vacations!

As you may know from reading our blog, they are building Phase 2 of the Old Colony renovation.  As you can see here, Phase 2 is going up right next to Phase 1.   

School is almost over, but not work on the construction site.  What will it look like when we come back next September!?!

 

Two Perspectives Upon One View

Kids at the Perkins are busy with math and history and reading.  We shouldn't forget, however, what greets them every time they look out the window:

February 2013

1. A construction site
2. Change 
3. Progress

Building is like learning, in a way: many different skills and materials come together and create something strong and new.  

That's an interesting idea, but when kids compare the different views they saw in February and what they can now see in March, they may have less lofty thoughts.

March 2013

As one student remarked, "Wow, now we can see Angelo's (a popular sub shop) from here!"

They're BA-A-A-CK!!

In the middle of November, a groundbreaking ceremony kicked off the beginning of Phase 2 of the Old Colony's makeover.  Phase 2 is even bigger than Phase 1 and will build 170 units.  Lots of speeches were made, and then a front-end loader took a chunk out of a building to great applause.  

Just one chunk, though. It wasn't quite time to tear all those old buildings down.

It is now!

Remember, you can click on any picture to make it larger.

 And, look what is happening behind the blue fence...

 

Stay tuned, there's much more to come! 

Phase 2 Has Began At Last!

This blog started because over two years ago because an adventure was happening around the Perkins School.  Part of Old Colony, the oldest housing development in Boston, was being renovated.  Our students watched many of its old buildings come down.  Then they had a front row seat for the countless stages of construction that put the new ones in place.  They learned about architecture and building and many jobs they might want in the future.  Then there were all those trucks and cranes and front-end loaders!


Watching the buildings grow was pretty exciting.  




The finished product was too.  Kids have nice sidewalks to ride their bikes on and a new playground.  They have been to the Tierney Community Center to see great programs since the Perkins doesn't have its own auditorium.  The kids aren't the only people who think Phase 1 was a good idea.  Readers of Affordable Housing Finance magazine picked it over about 140 other projects as the year's Best Urban Project.

 
And, guess what?  It's starting to happen all over again.  

Politicians, city planners and developers, and builders came together to get the project started last week.  They made some speeches that basically said it takes a lot of work to do this kind of project--and, it's worth it.  It's good because it gives people from the neighborhood jobs and gives people from Old Colony a better place to live and makes South Boston a nicer community.  

Then came the fun part.  The first chunk of the building came down!

Now a new adventure begins.

Perkins Update

It's been a very quiet time on the Perkins' blog, hasn't it?  That's because it's a very, very busy time in the school.  Even though it seems as if school has been in session forever, there are many things that have to get accomplished at the beginning of the year. 

Learning, of course, then as always.  This week there is also a lot of testing going on.

Next week, however, things will start to rock!  We're starting our look at one of the biggest events happening this fall, here in Boston and throughout the country.  Is it Halloween?  NO!  It's the election for the president of the United States.



Soon, there will also be a big event that is happening right across the street.  Sometime this fall, we will be watching the builders take the first steps to renovating another section of Old Colony.  More lessons in architecture, planning, construction, jobs, math, and more!