May 18, 2012 Designing Schools, Dreams Courtesy photo Venture Academy students Jonatha Mingo (left), Presley Colohan (center) and Matt Smith-Davis draft a plan for their new school. By NANCY VAN VALKENBURG Standard-Examiner staff nvan@standard.net Tt /f ARRIOTT- \/l SLATERVILLE -LVA—Colby Child always toyed with the idea of becoming an architect. He just never dreamed he would be contributing to his first commercial project at age 15. Colby and his fellow ninth-graders at Venture Academy are contributing research and design ideas to their new high school, to open in fall 2013. "I really enjoyed Students focus on learning through long-term investigations doing the plans on Google SketchUp," said Colby, of North Ogden, speaking of 3D software used by design and engineering professionals. "And I got to job shadow the architect working with us. I think I've learned more from this school project than from any other." Student David Keith Brown, 15, from Ogden, suggested floor cutouts, surrounded by safety railing, that will allow students to look from one level to the other. So far, the cutouts remain in the design. "Years from now when I drive by the building, I can say I helped design the hallways," Brown said. When the kindergarten through ninth-grade charter school decided to purchase an adjacent field and construct a new high school, it only made sense that students would play a major role in the project, said Principal Jenn Thompson. Five-year-old Venture Academy is an expeditionary-learning school and focuses on learning through long- term investigations, group projects, field studies and oral presentations of student work. Students study a major theme for a year or more, and learn their language skills, math, history and more through that project. "With architecture, students thought they would be drawing pretty 55