Founded by Emily Pilloton, Project H uses the power of creativity, design, and hands-on building to amplify the raw brilliance of youth, transform communities, and improve K–12 public education from within. The programs teach rigorous design iteration, tinkering, applied arts and sciences, and vocational building skills to give young people the creative, technical, and leadership tools necessary to make positive, long-lasting change in their lives and their communities. Project H’s youth-led public design projects are rooted in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) content to connect in-school learning to out-of-school possibility. Project H believes that design is a powerful medium that is an active response to a context, a personal expression, a physical challenge, and a social act that builds citizenship in the next generation. Exploring the intersection of physical sciences, engineering, architecture, design, social justice, and community development, projects built by their students include an award-winning 2,000-square-foot farmers market structure, iconic downtown landmarks, farmstands, playgrounds, school gardens, an obstacle course, public chicken coops, and their own learning facilities.
Project H is a tax exempt 501c3 nonprofit corporation. (In case you’re wondering, the “H” stands for the core values that guide their work: Humanity, Habitats, Health, Happiness, Heart, Hands, and more).
Studio H is an in-school design/build class for 8th–11th grade students. First launched in Bertie County, NC and now based at Realm Charter School in Berkeley, CA, Studio H students apply their core subject learning to design and build audacious and socially transformative projects. Students of Studio H have previously dreamed up, designed, and constructed a 2000-square-foot farmers market pavilion, a pop-up park, laser-etched skateboards, sculptural concrete public furniture, roadside farmstands, and more. Through experimentation, non-stop production, tinkering, and a lot of dirt under their fingernails, students develop the creative capital, critical thinking, and citizenship necessary for their own success and for the future of their communities.
