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George Lucas Video on Urban Plan

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Letter from the Teacher

Dear ULI members,

My name is Ryan Stanley and I am an Honors Economics teacher at Desert Vista High School. My classroom was chosen as the place to pilot UrbanPlan in Arizona. I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity and want to thank ULI for developing UrbanPlan and thank the local representatives who brought UP to my students. I wanted to write and explain what this experience meant to my students, to myself and to the volunteers.

As a teacher, my top priorities are always to develop critical thinking and to prepare my students for the  “real world”. Simply put, I want my class to challenge my students’ thinking and to be relative to their lives. UrbanPlan achieved both of these objectives while also applying basic economic principles and forcing them to work together with their classmates. I found my students eager to come to class and excitedly getting to work the second they came in the room. All the things I want as a teacher were happening with UrbanPlan.

A key cornerstone to the success of the program is the volunteers that come into the classroom. I was overwhelmed with how well prepared these volunteers were and how valuable their input was to the students. My students really enjoyed the opportunity to interact with professionals from the field of land development. It was an enriching experience for all involved; the students, myself, and the land use professionals. My students were enthusiastic throughout the program and appreciative to have had the experience.

I cannot express enough how thankful I am to use this program. The first experience exceeded all expectations and I sincerely hope to continue using UrbanPlan for years to come. At the beginning of the unit, I told my students it would be the coolest thing they have ever done in school. At the projects conclusion, my students agreed. Thank you to ULI for developing this program, and special thanks to Dan Colton, Gena Trimble and Sheila Hamilton, and all the UrbanPlan volunteers for helping it find its way to Desert Vista High School and making sure the first time was a success.  

Sincerely,
Ryan Stanley
Honors Economics Teacher
Desert Vista High School

Student Comments

“Before UrbanPlan, when I thought about redevelopment, I thought about the Apprentice and really intense business people, but UrbanPlan really brought it to a level I could understand. I hope you keep doing this project in the future, because not only is it a great learning tool, it is very beneficial for possible career choices.”

“I feel this project, UrbanPlan, should be done in the future. Even though it is stressful, I think it is a fun and effective way to study economics in an everyday setting. Moreover, it teaches economic concepts more effectively because it engages individuals on a personal level.”

“Overall, UrbanPlan was challenging at some points, stressful at others, but mostly it was fun and exciting. Anytime lego’s are involved, and notes and quizzes are scarce, its bound to be a good time…What could be better? It gave us an opportunity to learn about economics in an interesting way, and to develop skills that will be useful in the future. I enjoyed that we had a true incentive to succeed in order to please the rather threatening city council. The independence factor was nice too, it let us take control of our own project and the direction our group wanted to go in.”

“This activity teaches that development planners use a lot of the things we’re learning in economics class everyday. I would suggest that you continue doing this activity, especially in an economics class. It’s highly educational and can be a factor in job-hunting. It’s also thought-provoking. It is over-all an excellent project, especially for an economics class.”