Post in collaboration with Open Design Studio

Our public school communities continue to face new challenges as we live through the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools opened this fall and we grappled with the Delta variant, schools were asked to make another major shift in practice - moving student meals outdoors to help protect against COVID transmission.

The Durham Public Schools Foundation (DPSF), an independent community nonprofit that supports our public schools, has been listening closely to the voices of our school communities in order to quickly respond to urgent needs (see the 2020-2021 Annual Report to learn more). With all the changes in schools brought on by the pandemic, outdoor eating was another administrative and logistical challenge schools did not have the resources to address. Since August, DPSF purchased and distributed chairs and cushions to schools, launched an Outdoor Eating and Learning (OEL) Fund, and created an OEL Resource Guide with the help of community volunteers.

In addition to providing supplies and funds directly to schools, we wanted to support schools in thinking about new approaches and tools to support outdoor eating. We knew recommendations had to be developed quickly. We also didn’t want to begin a research process that would put an additional burden on teachers, administrators, and school nutrition staff.

As a result, we decided to engage in a design sprint we named the “outdoor eating challenge.” A design sprint would allow us to quickly produce and iterate on solutions that would make outdoor eating less logistically and administratively challenging. This process would also employ school observations and site visits as the main form of research, thus taking the onus off of school faculty and staff to engage in lengthy interviews and information gathering processes.

The design sprint was a partnership with Duke’s Open Design Studio and Lakewood Elementary School to support schools with outdoor eating challenges. We recruited a group of master’s students at both Duke and UNC to participate in this design challenge. Together, we worked toward a goal of helping make outdoor lunch feasible in Durham Public schools - a practice that would keep our students safe as COVID remains a risk in our communities.

Project Execution

Students used human-centered design principles to execute the design sprint. Human-centered design is a creative and iterative process that allows problem-solvers to start by taking time to deeply understand and empathize with the people with whom they are designing. In collaboration with Duke’s Open Design Studio, DPSF used this approach in order to center schools’ needs and wants throughout the entirety of the project. Our question was: How might DPS schools utilize outdoor spaces to reduce COVID-19 risk? In the first stage of this design sprint, during the inspiration stage, we sought to first understand the barriers schools are facing when trying to hold lunch outside. Next, in the ideation stage, we began to find themes, brainstorm solutions, and receive feedback from schools. At the conclusion of this process, during implementation and testing stages, we shared our final recommendations with Lakewood Elementary, our partner school in this project.

Process Breakdown

INSPIRATION

Observation: In order to better understand the issues DPS students and staff are facing, DPSF conducted site visits to Club Blvd Elementary School and Lakewood Elementary School. Lakewood was our pilot test site for this design sprint.

Screenshot of our online whiteboard for this project

Download Learnings and Find Themes: Using an online whiteboard tool Mural, we then captured our findings and began to find themes, uncover and discuss any patterns that emerged, and note consistent and surprising problems.

IDEATION

Insight Statements: We wrote insight statements, which allowed us to clearly articulate valuable learnings from a huge sum of information.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Share Preliminary Recommendations: We created a final report of recommendations for school staff and administrators. Please see below for details.
Get Feedback: As part of the human-centered design process, we collaborated with Lakewood staff in order to get feedback on our ideas. We changed several of our recommendations based on their priorities and input.
Explore Partnerships: Finally, we are now in the process of testing additional school interest and exploring the possibility of future partnerships between Duke Open Design Studio, DPSF, and DPS schools for similar initiatives. We hope our recommendations for streamlining outdoor eating for students and staff will help schools across DPS reduce COVID-19 transmission risk.

Recommendations for Lakewood Elementary School

At the culmination of the Human Centered Design process, the design team outlined a series of recommendations to better implement and facilitate outdoor lunch at Lakewood. Although every DPS school has a unique context, environment, and needs, many of these suggestions can be adapted for use by other schools.

Equipment and Infrastructure: We learned that it is not easy for teachers and staff to set up and take down seating equipment every day for each lunch period. Our recommendations prioritize implementing solutions that would allow for permanent outdoor eating infrastructure, including:

Using existing equipment that can remain outside, such as stumps and milk crates, as ad hoc chairs and tables
Obtaining outdoor desks that can be used for both eating and instruction

Winter Planning: As the temperature continues to drop, schools will need to consider how students can feasibly eat outside in the cold. Preparations for the winter could include:

Giving each student a bucket that they could keep their outerwear in, to ensure pieces of clothing do not get lost
Creating warming stations inside classrooms or hallways that students could use for short periods of time during lunch

Spacing and Protocols: Even though students are eating outside, it is still important that they remain adequately spaced out so as to avoid COVID transmission and potential quarantine. A greater focus on outdoor eating protocols could help to ensure outdoor lunch remains a COVID-safe activity. Potential solutions to implement include:

Spray painting dots or using tape to mark locations where students can eat individually
Assigning each student a permanent outdoor lunch spot that follows the school’s physical distancing guidelines, and concurrently assuring outdoor seating is already safely distanced before students arrive to lunch
Retraining and reminding staff of physical distancing guidelines so they can build agency among students to self-monitor their own distancing

Atmosphere: Lunch should be an enjoyable experience for students, giving them a break from the demands of the school day. However, the stress resulting from the implementation of outdoor eating can make it feel like another task to get through. Schools could implement the following recommendations to improve the overall atmosphere around outdoor eating:

Playing music or audiobooks relevant to classroom lessons to make lunch more exciting and engaging for students
Incorporating intentional mental wellness strategies into lunch, such as yoga, guided meditations, or journaling
Planting gardens or painting outdoor areas to make the lunch space more aesthetically pleasing

Conclusion

DPSF and the Open Design Studio are proud of the insights that came from this collaborative project and are hopeful our recommendations may be helpful across DPS. Both organizations look forward to utilizing Human Centered Design and Open Design methods to assist the Durham Public School System in future projects.

Outdoor Eating & Learning Design Sprint with Lakewood Elementary School

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