Our team joined Mrs. Diana Lopez’ 5th grade class at Don Julian Elementary in Avocado Heights to teach students about planning. We organized three activities for students to learn what planning is, how planning is done, and how the students can get involved in planning their communities. The first activity involved teaching students what planning is based on material in John Martoni’s,” Metropolis: A Green City of Your Own!”, which is aimed at introducing general planning concepts to students.

We then gave students land use maps and asked them to think about their favorite and least favorite places in their community.

Using the Place It! method, students were then asked to think about what they wanted to see in their city.

The students ideas were original and inspiring. We hope they will take what they learned and share it with their friends and family so they can stay engaged in planning a better East San Gabriel Valley.