Blogs

November 24, 2020

APA Ambassadors Adapt During COVID-19 With Self-Guided Tours

Meagan Booth, an APA Ambassador in Utah, has been exploring ways to continue teaching children about planning in the midst of the pandemic.

April 9, 2020

Building a Participation Ladder With Youth

Uncovering JAPA: What possibilities would we have if youth could participate more fully in planning? Read about three new rungs of youth participation.

January 8, 2020

APA Ambassador Inspires Preschool Envelope City

Ambassador Megan Mullen Booth brought planning to a Utah preschool with a paper envelope city activity.

August 26, 2019

STEAM Initiative Welcomes APA Ambassador's Planning Activity

APA Ambassador Sheldon S. Ah Sing, AICP, helped California students answer the question: "What is a city?"

July 24, 2019

Emerging Professionals Plug Planning Across Borders

SRC Chair Rachael Thompson Panik and Past Chair Ellen Forthofer recently traveled to Ottawa, Canada, to speak on a panel of young professional leaders in APA and the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP).

June 7, 2019

New Graphic Novel Aims to Engage Teens With Planning

Can a graphic novel about planning inspire communities and planning organizations to achieve greater outreach and more thoughtful engagement with teens?

November 20, 2018

APA Ambassador Leads Florida Students in Mock Council Meeting

APA Ambassador Kim Glas-Castro, AICP, fashioned a public hearing scenario in which a development proposal was under consideration. Forty sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students who are involved in the school's student government participated.

October 8, 2018

APA Ambassadors Use “The Lorax” to Teach Planning Lessons to Youth

APA Ambassadors Diana Wilson, AICP, and Lisa Lattu, AICP, excite kids about the importance of the planning profession and trees using Dr. Seuss's book "The Lorax."

August 14, 2018

APA Ambassador Highlights Planning on Palm Springs Career Day

APA Ambassador Kimberly Glas-Castro, AICP, excites students about planning as a career choice.

July 17, 2018

APA Ambassador Brings Children’s Workshop to Life in Texas

APA Ambassador Diana Wilson, AICP, partnered with Texas A&M University to engage youth and their parents in planning process.

June 18, 2018

APA Ambassador Turns Students into Map Makers in Polk City, Florida

APA Ambassador Leny Huaman builds off the APA Florida Chapter’s Kindergarten to 2nd Grade Guidebook to teach elementary students about creating plans for their city.

May 21, 2018

APA Ambassadors Empower Middle School Girls Through Crafting

APA Ambassador Shawna Kitzman, AICP, and her team from Fitzgerald, build off the Girls Are Brave program to teach middle school girls about the power planning and zoning plays to improve communities.

May 14, 2018

Empowering Youth — and Planners — at NPC18

A partnership between YEP! Youth Engagement Planning, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana, and APA's CPAT program organized a youth engagement workshop during the 2018 APA National Planning Conference in New Orleans.

March 22, 2018

APA Ambassador Gives San Francisco Youth a Fresh Look at the City

APA Ambassador Deland Chan, AICP, designed a workshop for youth in San Francisco’s Chinatown to learn how to collect and synthesize data about their urban environment.

March 5, 2018

APA Ambassadors Bring “Kidtropolis” to Iowa Classroom

APA Ambassadors used exercises from the “Metropolis” curriculum developed by John Martoni to help kids envision what a “kid-friendly” and “green” city means to them.

January 9, 2018

"Park for All" Playground Brings Together APA Ambassador and Texas Students

Ambassador Diana Wilson visited a 7th grade elementary classroom in La Grange, Texas, to hear from students about a new playground and talk about health and fitness.

November 7, 2017

APA Ambassadors Give Students Sky-High View of Planning

APA Ambassadors recount their experience with students at the Research Triangle Park STEM Expo in North Carolina, engaging students with aerial imagery of planning trends from around the world.

October 31, 2017

Students Shape a City at Summer Planning Camp

Recent University of Washington grad Stephanie Velasco shares her experience working as a camp instructor for "Next City," a planning summer camp offered by the university's Robinson Center for Young Scholars.

October 24, 2017

Teaching Planning Through Great Places in America

M. Margo Wheeler, FAICP, introduces a new crop of college students to planning every year through APA’s Great Places in America.

October 17, 2017

APA Ambassadors Introduce Youth to Planning on Atlanta’s Westside

In August 2017, Atlanta-based planners from APD Urban Planning and Management visited the Mattie Freeland Home to host an Ambassador workshop that focused on community agency in planning processes.

October 9, 2017

APA Ambassador Makes Water Facts Fun in La Grange, Texas

APA Ambassador Diana Wilson made learning fun with water games at the LaGrange County Library's Amazing Water story hour in LaGrange, Texas.

September 8, 2017

Plan4Health Success Story: Mount Hope Coalition to Increase Food Security

Through Plan4Health, the Mount Hope Coalition to Increase Food Security in Providence, Rhode Island, aims to educate residents on the health and economic benefits of producing locally grown food and options for securing fresh, healthy food.

August 22, 2017

APA Ambassador and Teen Girls Celebrate Octavia Butler

APA Ambassador Daphne Lundi hosted a workshop in collaboration with the Brooklyn-based Octavia Project, which builds on girls' love for science fiction and fantasy to teach skills in STEM and community building.