1. Our Community Project Incorporating the ViewFinders Too Curriculum
By Ted Mitchell
Knotty Oak Middle School

2. Our Community Project Overview Students:
Define: What is a community?
Research: Why having a sense of community is important?
Analyze and assess their community/ town’s history assets, needs, and future possibilities.
Design their own plan for their community’s future.
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3. Using RI’s Comprehensive Plan Act Using ViewFinders Too Concepts
The Tools to do this with: Blending Viewfinders Too, Smart Growth, and Civics curriculum Ideas
Using RI’s Comprehensive Plan Act
Using ViewFinders Too Concepts
Using Smart Growth Concepts
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4. RI Comprehensive Plan Act
Students use their community’s Comprehensive Plan as a mechanism to propose their version of the future.
Students are divided into components of the plan, such as Land Use (zoning), Transportation (roads, bike paths), Community Services and Facilities (schools, police stations, teen centers), etc.
Each group uses the existing goals, created by the town, and adds their own to propose their own plan on how to better their community in the future.
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5. Using ViewFinders Too
All student groups participate in the ViewFinders Too lessons to learn the concepts.
Then the student groups incorporate these concepts, like visual pollution, into their future plans. Ex: Land Use Group proposes zoning regulations banning billboards along roads – Also proposes regulations on artistic nature of business signs (no neon, blinking lights, must be made of wood, etc.) for visual appeal.
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6. Using Smart Growth
Smart Growth principles include: Preserving Open Space, Creating walkable neighborhoods, mixed land use, etc.
Students incorporate these concepts into their future plans. Ex: Transportation group might propose a set of bike paths that allow and encourage citizens to walk, bike, rollerblade, etc. into town rather than drive a polluting car.
Grow Smart RI is the local organization for our state and is very helpful to this project.
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7. The Result
Students create PowerPoint presentations, including maps, data, pictures, and their ideas on the future of their community.
Culminating Event: Members from the Town Council and Planning Committee come into the school to listen and provide feedback on the students’ ideas.
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8. Expanding Upon the Project
The following year (looping) - Connection to Mock Election Project – Students interview candidates about how the politicians plan to implement the students’ plans.
No match Bike Path grant through the state. (Students propose where)
New civics standards (NCLB) & Project Citizen.
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9. An Example Student Group Presentation
This group focused on the Open Space and Recreation of the town’s Comprehensive Plan

10. Open Space and Recreation
By Alyssa Boudreau, Cassie Jones, Kyle Perault, and Austin Coyle

11. Our math formula…
In math we learned a formula to find the population growth of Coventry for every ten years. We used the growth rate from U.S. Census figures of Coventry from 1990 to If our town keeps going at the constant rate, this is how many people we will have during these years…
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12. Coventry Population Growth
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13. STANDARD FACILITY NEEDS 2000-2010
Recreation Facility Type
Minor Parks and Playgrounds acres acres
Major Parks and Play fields acres acres
State Parks acres acres
Management Area acres acres
Beach Areas acres acres
Picnic Areas acres acres
Boat Launches Launches 7 Launches
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14. Our Goals!
We should have only 370 acres of land for major minor playgrounds and playfields
We should have more beach areas because of close public beach areas are to crowded
We should have more boat launches because a lot of people use boats in the summer time
We should have open fields for picnic areas because that way we won’t ruin the environment
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15. Parks and playgrounds in Coventry
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16. Ugly isn’t it? Please fix up this field!!!
This is an example of visual pollution!!!
This is not very pleasant to look at!!!
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17. Visual Pollution!!!
Visual pollution is not pleasant to look at… We want to be proud of our community! If we fix up things in the community our community will stand out and known to be nice and clean!!!!
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18. Map of Flat River Road
The star above is where we would like to fix up the field!!!!
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19. What we want it to look like…
This (below)
From this (below)
To…
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20. How are we going to make it happen?
Make a survey to get a public opinion about the field
Get a group of people and clean it up
Add a playground next to the field
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21. How much will all this cost???
Price: Under 10,000 dollars!!!
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22. If this happens…
As you can see, there is a restaurant near the field so people can play baseball and then go out for lunch after the game.
Children can have fun at the playground that we put near field.
It will make our community more appealing to the eye and we will be proud of our community.
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23. More activities kids can do other than the field…
Kids can travel via bike, skateboard, walk to the field then go back to the other recreational area.
*Less traffic, less pollution, more ACCESS*
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24. Thank you for listening to our presentation!!!
We hope you will consider our ideas about
fixing up this field!
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