PHINCO

Child Friendly Cities & Our

DIGITAL Visual Design Learning Platform

For more information on the Child Friendly Cities movement: https://childfriendlycities.org/

We are rooted in a 20 year storied history of developing pilot programs for every form of American school - urban, suburban, rural. These efforts began in 1991 when Co-Director Jim Ross shifted “Digital Innovation” efforts from the Big Three Automakers to focus on K-12 Education while serving as Director of the McMath Hulbert Solar Observatory. The demonstrations of the possibilities for technology at the Michigan and National Science Teachers Association at the Renaissance Ballroom in Detroit, MI - with youth broadcasting live from sites throughout Michigan (Detroit Zoo, Henry Ford Museum, Observatory) and University of California Santa Barbara - inform and inspire us today. We are also informed by efforts spearheaded by the Observatory’s “Discovery Program” that raised over $20 million in technology grants for the Pontiac School District and Oakland Schools ISD, namely as one of the country’s first “21st Century Community Learning Centers” pilot grant.

Growing from our “Design Walk Downtown” 2015 Pilot Program with Webber Media Arts Academy, we focused efforts on creating space for youth downtown at 7 N. Saginaw, in partnership at the time with Mary Gee Evans, Founder of the Young Entrepreneurs Squad and now operating in Atlanta. Our incubator’s design contributions included the installation of the first Gigabyte service in Downtown Pontiac, connected to the Hidden River Park. We developed a successful City of Pontiac Neighborhood Empowerment grant for the alleyway staircase entrance to the park and a rebuilt retaining wall. We then developed a “Shipping Container” concept for programming the park, in collaboration with Oakland Family Services (OFS) youth. This was successfully funded by KaBoom! for $56,000.00. the engagement with OFS happened organically and serendipitously as Michelle Guzinski, a teacher with neighboring Oakland Family Services, walked by our studio one day with a group of kids and ended up visiting throughout the summer. Our program culminated with an opportunity for the kids to present on their projects digitally at Project for Public Spaces 3rd International Placemaking Week, Chattanooga, TN - October 1-4, 2019.

Our pilot development efforts since have centered on creating a robust and resilient “Out-of-School” digital learning platform for our public schools and youth serving organizations to aid in response to the Pandemic and to the continued demand for 21st Century skills (creativity, curiosity, collaboration etc.)

Design Thinking in the Classroom

LaKenya on her design concept for what would go INSIDE of one of the EMPTY buildings in Downtown Pontiac.

Shipping Container KaBoom! funded grant, see City of Pontiac