See It • Build It • Know It
See It • Build It • Know It
Benvenuti and welcome to the Salvadori Center! After serving for almost two years as Executive Director of this wonderful organization, I am excited to share our changes with you.
At the Salvadori Center we are committed to improving children's content understanding and problem-solving skills by using project-based learning focused on the built environment. We work towards this goal by providing tailored professional development to teachers as well as by providing direct instruction to children of all ages. Our teaching staff features experienced architects and engineers who share their passion for our urban landscape in ways that inspire our young learners. Our commitment to supporting the development of project-based learning with a built-environment focus is reflected in projects we do in math, science, art, social studies and language arts classrooms.
This past year, we have revamped our programmatic offerings: launched our flagship school-based program GLOBE (Guided Learning through Our Built Environment); redeveloped our short-term programs into LEAD (Learning through Engineering, Architecture and Design); expanded our Professional Development opportunities for teachers by offering three summer institutes and workshops at the Center throughout the year; and entered into new and exciting partnerships with after-school providers such as the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Our collaboration with NYCHA brought us our first National Science Foundation grant. Needless to say, we are very busy but very energized by what the next year has in store.
My experience as a teacher and teacher educator continues to inform and enhance the wonderful work we do with children and teachers as we seek to expand the vision of our founder, Dr. Mario Salvadori.
I invite you to explore our site. Visit often. Volunteer at an event. Contribute. Come see us in action. Be part of our Salvadori family as we grow into our future!
Avanti!
Leonisa Ardizzone, Ed.D., ardizzone@salvadori.org
Our founder, Mario Salvadori, a world-renowned structural engineer, believed that the built environment held all the knowledge that a person needed to be an intelligent and active member of the community. What teachers need to make this knowledge available to their students are tools with which they can "unpack" the knowledge embedded in the built environment.
The Salvadori Center gives these tools to teachers and students through a pedagogy grounded in what it calls "project-based, hands-on/minds-on activities" that employ the principles of architecture, engineering, and the design process. Through this method, teachers and their students can unlock the math, science, art, and humanities embodied in the structures and systems that surround them.