BSA's Architecture Merit Badge
If you are an architect and a parent with a son in a Boy Scouts of America troop, you need to sign up as a merit badge counselor for the Architecture Merit Badge. This four hour challenge is optimal for "giving back".
I recently had the pleasure of introducing 10 more scouts to my passion for design and architecture with another scout parent and Arizona Registered Architect Jenifer Weskalnies. We spent a couple hours visiting and discussing some nice projects throughout Central Phoenix. Then we visited a project that is under construction, where Jenifer is responsible as the project architect.
It wasn't about encouraging these young folks to become architects. Rather it was about inspiring them to be aware of people(like architects)who are responsible for their manmade surroundings. We made it personal creating opportunities for these scouts to experience places in new and interesting ways, to think differently about their surroundings, to touch different materials, to hear different things, and to ask lots of questions.
We had a good time (rewarding for all involved...another small step toward promoting the importance of design excellence within our built surroundings both inside and outside).
topic: building design