Abstract: When students move from the margins of the design process to its center, learning environments become powerful expressions of identity and limitless opportunity. In this session, designers and school district leaders from Oregon and Washington will explore student-centered approaches that transform career and technical education (CTE) facilities into dynamic spaces that reinforce belonging and real-world learning. Through two Pacific Northwest case studies—the recently completed CTE Center at David Douglas High School in Portland, Oregon and the reimagined Renton High School in Renton, Washington—presenters will share how fully integrated student engagement strategies informed the planning, programming, and delivery of industry-aligned learning environments. At David Douglas, early engagement session revealed that students believed they didn’t deserve “nice things” because of what they looked like or where they lived. Ongoing student outreach opportunities ultimately shifted that narrative and resulted in a vibrant, high-quality CTE hub that celebrates the school’s diverse community. In Renton, high schoolers are actively influencing design decisions around identity, materiality, color, and function. As full design collaborators, their insights are ensuring the new Renton High School campus embodies their culture and their community’s history.

Beyond inspiration, this session will emphasize implementation. Presenters will capture actionable project delivery strategies for translating student input into measurable design outcomes, maintaining accountability throughout the design process, and safeguarding community-driven priorities amid evolving budgets and market conditions. Session participants will gain practical tools to deliver innovative CTE environments that empower students to imagine—and pursue—limitless futures.

Learning Objectives:

1. Implementing Student-Centered Engagement Plans: Identify student-centered outreach and engagement strategies that remove participation barriers, resonate with underrepresented groups, and support diverse modes of participation in order to inform design solutions that promote well-being, belonging, and equitable access.
2. Co-Creating a Shared Project Vision Rooted in Community Identity: Analyze student engagement feedback and broad stakeholder input to develop a unified project vision that aligns community identity with strategic district objectives and technical programming considerations.
3. Championing a Measurable Framework for Design Accountability: Translate student-centered guiding principles into a measurable design accountability framework that incorporates custom metrics and recurring evaluation checkpoints to ensure that design solutions rooted in innovation, resiliency, and belonging are maintained throughout the design process.
4. Safeguarding Value-Driven Solutions Amid Market Volatility: Apply value-driven budget and schedule management strategies that enable project teams to navigate market volatility while protecting programmatic elements that support holistic wellness and equitable access to high-quality career and technical education environments.