School & District Programs

Introduce young learners to city planning through storytelling, creative play, and hands-on exploration! YEP! helps students discover how homes, schools, parks, shops, and transportation connect to create the communities where they live. Activities may include an Ava Tanner the City Planner storytime, drawing an imagined neighborhood, building a model community, or sharing ideas for a favorite park or playground. Sessions encourage curiosity, collaboration, and problem-solving while showing children that their ideas matter. Programs can be tailored to individual classrooms, grade-level groups, or enrichment settings, with age-appropriate materials and flexible scheduling for a single visit or a series of activities.

Help middle school students explore how community decisions shape their daily lives—and how they can influence those decisions. Through interactive discussions, mapping exercises, design challenges, and collaborative activities, YEP! invites students to examine topics such as safe routes to school, welcoming public spaces, housing choices, and access to recreation. Students practice identifying challenges, considering different perspectives, and developing recommendations grounded in their own experiences. Sessions can complement social studies, geography, civics, and STEM instruction, with options for classroom workshops, advisory periods, after-school programs, or multiple visits. Maps, activity worksheets, and project materials are selected to support each group’s interests and learning goals.

Connect high school students with real-world planning issues and meaningful opportunities to contribute to their communities. YEP! engages students in exploring housing, transportation, land use, sustainability, and public spaces through facilitated conversations, community assessments, mapping, and collaborative projects. Students can gather input from peers, evaluate community needs, develop proposals, and practice presenting their recommendations to an audience. Programs also introduce careers in planning and related fields, helping students connect classroom learning with civic leadership and future pathways. Sessions can be designed for individual classes, student organizations, career exploration events, or extended projects, with tailored materials and scheduling coordinated with educators and school partners.