Do students understand how cities work?

The Chicago Architecture Foundation is calling for designs to create a graphic novel update to the 1911 Wacker Manual.  The original document was created to teach the city's 8th grade students about Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago.

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This selection from the Introduction of the original, written by Walter D. Moody, is particularly inspiring:

It is becoming a recognized fact that the power, growth and advancement of a city is limited only by the measure of united civic interest of its people. The stronger and more vital the Community, the greater and more influential the city. It is this spirit which gives Chicago its great world distinction-an indomitable, living, throbbing love for the city, expressing a demand of its united people that the city shall deserve and achieve greatness.
Conditions, then, demand that this new impulse of love for this city shall be fostered, and that our children shall be taught that they are the coming responsible heads of their various communities. We direct the national patriotic impulse into the paths of duty, and it is vital that we do the same with the new impulse for civic good.

What do you think? What do you do to help your students become future leaders in your city?

How do you foster both civic understanding and engagement?

SHARE YOUR IDEAS IN THE COMMENTS!


Here are some other interesting links about the Wacker Manual:

• You can find the rest of the original document here. 
• The Encyclopedia of Chicago also includes mention of it in this article on "Schools and Education."
  
• This recent radio spot on WBEZ explains the CAF's new goals for the graphic novel.  
  
• ​http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/wacker-manual (43 min talk from 2009)
• http://www.planetizen.com/node/29243 (article)
• https://buildingchicago.wordpress.com/2014/07/11/the-plan-of-chicago/ (blog on 1909 plan)

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