Eighth Graders Host Forum on Abandoned Houses

By Emily Gaines Buchler

Photos by Bryant Taylor

When students at the Alternative Learning Center started learning about Baltimore’s abandoned houses and vacant lots in their 8th-grade language arts class, something happened: They didn’t just finish the lesson and move on—they kept asking questions, digging for more information and thinking up solutions for vacant properties in their own neighborhoods.

“The lesson quickly moved beyond the classroom to the real world,” language arts teacher Melissa McDonald explains. They read case studies of revitalized neighborhoods across the country, created observational drawings of abandoned houses, wrote persuasive letters detailing their own solutions—and then sent the letters

to policymakers and community members.

Their efforts led to a housing forum at the school on Wed., May 19, titled “Teens Sharing Practical Solutions for Eradicating Abandoned and Vacant Houses in Baltimore City.” Here, students presented their perspectives and ideas to a panel of experts from across the city, including: Laurie Feinberg, the division chief of comprehensive planning for the Baltimore City Department of Planning; Ben Stone, a city planner, designer and artist who participated in the rebuilding of New Orleans and Baltimore's Station North and Pratt Street; Sarah Doherty, a sculpture professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) who curates art exhibits in vacant houses in Baltimore; Mark Sissman, the president of Healthy Neighborhoods, an organization that helps raise home values and market neighborhoods; John Papagni, a program officer for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development; Peter Duvall, a housing and neighborhood revitalization specialist for the Greater Homewood Community Corporation; David Waller, who works with AIRS At the Door Program to provide housing for HIV-positive ex-offenders leaving the prison system; and Reginald Stanfield, the director of community programs at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.   

Click here to read excerpts from the forum and the letters students wrote to panelists. And stay tuned for updates as these students set out to transform an abandoned lot in Gwynn Oaks into a community garden and mural.