Every year the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach takes the 4th grade class at Rosarian Academy through the ‘Heritage Education Program’. Through the study of local architecture, the program teaches the lesson of pride in the cultural history to the area’s children. The students learn about the history of their community and an impressive architectural vocabulary through lessons in fine arts, mathematics, science, social studies and technology. Taking their knowledge, the young architects then design floor plans on graph paper, making proper marks for doors, windows, stairs and furniture. They are then asked to create model houses complete with landscape architecture elements, some even add matchbox cars, trees, dolls and rubber snakes.
Through this program students acquire an appreciation for their own heritage and an understanding of architectural symbolism expressed through concepts of proportion, balance and scale.
The “Heritage Education Program” is provided free to schools and has been so successful that it was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award in Education by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in 1993. For more on the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach please visit Palmbeachpreservation.org.
