On May 10th, LC 9A took its second field trip of the semester. While that is not a common practice, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see 21st Century workplaces amidst the rejuvenation of Detroit, thanks to our host, Howard Luckoff, who works for the Quicken Loans Family of Companies.
Over the course of two hours, we were guided by FOC employees volunteering to spend their work day with us. We began at One Campus Martius (the Compuware building), where we got to see what many companies are now doing to their work environments. Employees work in an open, colorful, well-lit space at desks that can be raised or lowered depending on whether you want to sit or stand.
They have snack bars and snack trolleys in each office, and we even saw one floor on which you can bring your dog to work! It reminded the students a lot of the common areas at BHHS with the serveries and the low-top and high-top seating in our classrooms. The students were really surprised that one office even includes a basketball court.
We toured other buildings around the business district, and one of the other aspects that really stood out to us was how the FOC has worked to incorporate design into these work spaces. This room is used for looking at color swatches. You can see that the space is white to provide the best lighting, and all of the walls are writable surfaces. Sounds like somewhere else we know!
From there, we saw the Command Center, which is the security hub of the FOC for the city of Detroit. While we were not allowed to take photos inside, the students were in awe of how much surveillance there is in the business district to ensure that it is a safe place to be!
There was also a lot of artwork done to preserve the original buildings, including this piece of found art (left), in which they saved many of the items found in the flooded basement of this building, which was then turned into an office space. The goal, of course, is to foster creativity, comfort, and flexibility so that people can do their best work. It was really neat to see!
We saw a lot of conference tables, but we also saw floor seating with comfy cushions, lounge areas for meetings, and individual spaces as well. We noticed the same kind of flexible work spaces that we have in the new learning communities.
Our morning ended with a special surprise: lunch atop the Madison Building with a view right over Tiger Stadium. What a treat!
We had a fantastic day. Many students (and adults) came away seeing Detroit through different eyes and seeing the exciting business opportunities happening there. They also saw that the way they are learning at BHHS (in collaboration, with flexible spaces and seating) really may be the workplace they walk into down the road.