We are physical beings who live in physical space, and, as such, we should be attuned to the rhythms of life on earth, or ecoliterate. Ecoliteracy means understanding the role of humans on this earth as a part of, not apart from, earth systems, and creating spaces that reflect an awareness of, and respect for, our surroundings Interdisciplinary and theme-based education derive their structure from both systems thinking and Ecoliteracy. Finally, an essential element of context is community. School Zone actively seeks community involvement and collaboration before new structures are built or old ones are renovated. The programming ideas described here engage stakeholders in an elongated process of thinking about the total community as a learning environment.
Participants analyze where they learn.
They look into joint use and co-location of facilities in the community. Planning committees are formed. Stakeholders take a Myer-Briggs test to determine talents, strengths and interests, and to which committee they should be assigned. A logo is designed for the project in order to give all participants a visual symbol of the joint planning process and a collective visual image that represents group goals. Treasure cards are distributed to find out what the community assets are.