Aimee Mullins spoke at NCMA Nov. 7
by Julie Z. Russo
Aimee Mullins is a statuesque Olympic athlete who travels across the world sharing her personal story of overcoming adversity to inspire hope in individuals with special needs and their care providers. At 37, she is a gentle titan having reached the pinnacle of the athletic and fashion worlds, yet her journey started with a significant handicap. Aimee was born without fibulae bones in both her legs and by age one was a double amputee growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania without access to the medical resources we are accustomed to today.
Ms. Mullins’ personal quest to find legs to make her one of the fastest and most beautiful women in the world is an inspiration. She is also part of an international design movement that includes architects, artists, medical researchers, and teachers exploring how to develop creativity in partnership with science to help the disadvantaged.
On November 7, Ms. Mullins shared the podium with education curators from the North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) to lead a discussion about how art can be applied to learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Entitled “STEAM,” the fall educators’ exposition in Raleigh attended by 250 educators was sponsored by the GlaxoSmithKline Foundation supporting K-12 educators.
“I just wanted to be normal, but instead I got to be extraordinary,” Ms. Mullins said. “I get to create opportunities like running in an Olympic stadium.”
A joint architecture and wildlife conservation webinar sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) was held a day earlier to provide guidance to educators on the design of outdoor educational spaces across the country. Both the STEAM program and the schoolyards program are part of a broader trend to boost participation in alternative art, design, and physical therapies as well as learning outcomes for civilian and military populations. Held a week before Veteran’s Day, the NCMA was also inviting veterans to enjoy a complimentary tour of the largest collection of Porsches ever assembled for a museum exhibit.
“Everyday we are challenged, this resonates across cultures,” Ms. Mullins said. “Those that embrace challenge are happier, more successful than before. The importance of creativity is to help students’ innovate.” In Aimee’s case, this meant searching for doctors and engineers who could build prosthetic legs to help her play softball and track or attend a party wearing sandals. While attending Georgetown University on a full scholarship, she was a Pentagon intern as well as the first amputee to compete in the NCAA Division. The “Cheetah” carbon-fiber sprinting legs she wore to earn track and field records received global coverage. Fashion designers took notice, and Aimee was soon modeling solid ash boots by Alexander McQueen and acting in films.
The concept of connecting play and learning whether it occurs on the runway or the school blacktop is the central focus of the Natural Learning Institute (NLI) within North Carolina State University’s School of Design. During the past 14 years, NLI’s main focus is the design of outdoor environments to boost human health and a healthy biosphere, said NLI director Robin Moore. On Nov. 6, Mr. Moore and Allen Cooper, a senior manager with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) in Austin, Texas shared case examples and education concepts pertaining to the design of outdoor education spaces in a DOE-sponsored webinar.
School outdoor environments provide students and educators with important opportunities for learning and discovery. Field research demonstrates that African-American, economically disadvantaged, and Hispanic students benefit the most from these green school programs, said Mr. Cooper. The Perez Elementary School in Austin is an example of how students gain from learning in an outdoor classroom with a nature trail. Spending time outside at the Perez School includes making science observations and journaling in a butterfly garden to an annual family campout on the school grounds with ‘smores and star gazing. With the introduction of nature in everyday learning, Perez school students are demonstrating improvement on standardized tests, said principal David Kauffman.
Through its Schoolyard Habitats Program, the NWF provides international certification to schools that have demonstrated the development, ongoing monitoring and maintenance of a schoolyard habitat. A habitat can be as small as building bird feeders and planters to removing asphalt playgrounds to provide for green spaces that attract insects, butterflies, and birds.
“The advantages of being outdoors in rich natural environments supports multiple styles of learning,” said Mr. Moore, adding that outdoor learning creates social harmony by enabling us to be in touch with the broader ecosystem. More than 50 years of research have gone into the concept of school ground renovation to design and manage the environment. NLIs work has led it on investigations of a 30-year garden project at the Coombes School in England to incorporating long-leaf pine and vegetable gardens in the schools of North Carolina.
How to promote a sustainable culture and help children respond to learning in a global society is the goal of these museum, k-12 school, university, and private programs.
“The goal of education is to create lifelong learners,” said Ms. Mullins, noting parents are already pressuring their children to declare their majors by age seven. She said the art world is full of geniuses pushing the boundaries of acceptable behavior and inhabiting all spheres of learning like artists Leonardo Da Vinci, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns.
The challenge is creating broad-based policy initiatives that encompass art and design, STEM and outdoor learning with the support of elected officials, Mr. Moore said. Professional development initiatives might include the training of caregivers who are also recreational specialists and place makers who shape an environment that is aesthetically appealing, he noted.
“Keep the sense of wonder alive,” Ms. Mullins said. “Well before you shut down the possibilities.”