At the Dakota Apartments, Hands-On Learning for First Graders

Education is central to LANDMARK WEST's mission, especially our award-winning youth education program, Keeping the Past for the Future (KPF), and its accompanying student workbook, "My Preservation Journal".

KPF teaches students to look at their surroundings and learn about architecture, history and community.  First-grade students from the Anderson School did just that as Dir. of Education Debi Germann led them to the famed Dakota Apartments (1 West 72nd Street at Central Park West).  Students sketched the building's detailing, such as the fantastical ironwork by Samuel Yellin, who also designed the intricate metal work at the Central Savings Bank (now Apple Bank for Savings, an Individual Landmark designated in 1975).

Students from the Anderson School sketching
the Samuel Yellin-designed ironwork at the Dakota Apartments.

If you're a parent with children who attend school on the Upper West Side and want to help introduce KPF into your child's classroom and school, let us know!  Call our Dir. of Education, Debi Germann, at (212) 496-8110 or email her at debigermann@landmarkwest.org.  Get page-by-page interactive preview of "My Preservation Journal" here.

Stay tuned to the LW! blog for updates on KPF in West Side classrooms and other education activities (follow the "Education" label, linked here!).

For more information and photographs of the Dakota Apartments, the Central Savings Bank, and many more of the West Side's architectural treasures, download our FREE iPhone walking tour app!

Spotlight on Education: Upper West Side-Inspired Poetry!

One of the ways in which LW! engages UWS elementary students to become more aware of the architecture in their neighborhood is through the exploration and creation of poetry. In our popular program Neighborhood Poetry, third-graders spend time outside to write down observations about their neighborhood. In a whole-class effort, these observations are later mixed together with their classmates' and arranged into different poems. Below, enjoy some examples from the spring of 2012!

P.S. 87 students wrote about the buildings on West 78th Street:

P.S. 199 students sat near the Eleanor Roosevelt statue at the corner of Riverside Park, looking at the buildings on 72nd Street and Riverside Drive: 

P.S. 145 students wrote about the West End Presbyterian Church on Amsterdam Avenue and 105th Street (on LW's Wish List):  

Spotlight on Education: As masons, tour guides, and advocates, interns experience architecture and preservation

At LW!, education is key.  Be it through walking tours, slide lectures, building research "how-to"s, design assistance, or our award-winning youth education program Keeping the Past for the Future -- sharing and celebrating the history and richness of the Upper West Side with our friends and neighbors is central to our mission.

Throughout the year, we welcome to our team a small handful of interns.  Many are current graduate students (like guest blogger Kate Gilmore), learning the preservation, planning and advocacy ropes "on the ground".  More recently, we've added to our ranks high school-aged interns from the Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design.

Working with these students has been a tremendous experience for interns and LW! staff alike!  In addition to helping with "behind the scenes" projects, like updating our Online Buildings Database or taking photos, we've encouraged our WHSAD interns to engage with our membership right here on our blog.  2011 intern Ingrid partnered with Kate G. and wrote some of her own, original content -- check it out!

We're looking forward to meeting and working with more WHSAD interns in 2012 and can't say enough great things about the program.  In addition to LW!, organizations like the World Monuments Fund, A. Ottavino Corp. Stoneworks, Historic House Trust, Park Avenue Armory, and Green-Wood Cemetery have opened their doors to these impressive students.  

But, as the expression goes, don't take our word for it.  Check out the video below, featuring WHSAD interns (including our very own Ingrid!) in the field and in action.

Williamsburg High School for Art and Design Preservation Internship Program 

from World Monuments Fund on Vimeo.

Interested in partnering with WHSAD and hosting and intern?  We're happy to put you in touch; just email us!