Table Mound TAG students visit architect to help with the design of their school's new addition.

Story and Video by Gary Olsen

January 4, 2002

able Mound TAG coordinator, Cyndie Nelson, trundled her young charges off to Durrant Group the first day back from the holiday vacation. Durrant Group is an architectural engineering firm that is in charge of the Table Mound Elementary School addition which is scheduled to be constructed within the next few months. The Talented and Gifted Students have an architecture and design study unit since Durrant is one of the schools' school/business partners. Architects and engineers regularly teach design classes at the school and have done so for several years.

Prior to this opportunity, classes may have inspired the kids to design houses or something more traditional, but when Vision Iowa money was recently awarded the school expansion project, the firm and the school couldn't resist such a wonderful opportunity.

The students interviewed people in the building to discover what they would like to see in the new edition, and surprisingly, the plans of the students weren't too different from what the professionals came up with.

View the five-minute video clip and get up close and personal with these young engineers and designers. Click on the button that best matches your connection speed.

Students with plans in hand line the hallway as they wait their turn to make their presentations.

Above, Kevin Eipperle, of the Durrant Group, covers his firms tentative building plans with students.

Angela Holm (right) from Durrant Group, has been teaching Table Mound architecture, design, and engineering classes for the past four years. She is one of the District's shining stars in the School/Business Partnership galaxy.

These two students were presenters featured in the video on this page.