This group devoted their studies and service to Pieining Hall. We began the class by looking at urban planning, and discussing cities that were planned, versus those that were not. Some questions we addressed were, “What were the goals in planning a particular city such as New York or Dubai? Why are some cities unplanned, and what is it like to visit them? We then looked specifically at the planning of the Hartsbrook campus, with a focus on Piening Hall in particular. The class looked at the inspiration for the building, which came from the Jarna community in Sweden. We also examined the original blueprints to see how the plans had changed. We looked at design features that were well planned, as well as areas that are deficient. The students began to understand the importance of good planning in architecture, as well as the importance of aesthetics for our sense of well-being. For the last few days we jumped into our service project. Several young women asked that their bathroom downstairs be repainted, which was a project I was happy to support. The bathroom went from a rosy red and lime green combination, to pink and rosy red. We also began to repaint the pillars outside of Piening Hall, which were faded and peeling. Our efforts are on-going, and we hope to gather some volunteers in the Spring to finish the outdoor painting.

~Naomi Henderson, High School Art