On Oct.17, 2008, The Fairchild Challenge, Chicago Botanic Garden’s annual high school eco-competition will gather 150 students from nine Chicago-area high schools in a day-long bus tour along a route celebrating Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago.
History, art, and photography students are being asked to photograph and record their impressions and interpretations of the Burnham Plan. Select photographs will be used in a commemorative coffee table book to be published in conjunction with the Burnham Plan Centennial Celebration.
Student’s will travel throughout the day to Northerly Island, Museum of Science and Industry, Union Stock Yards, the Norfolk Southern Rail Yard, Garfield Park Field House and Garfield Park Conservatory, Kendall College, Grant and Millennium Parks, and the Art Institute of Chicago–displaying original drawings from the 1909 Burnham Plan.
Local architects, planners, historians, university professors, teachers, a director for the 2016 Chicago Olympic Village and city officials from the Department of Planning and Development, the Department of Economic Development, and the Park District will greet students at each site and will travel with them throughout the day.
The Fairchild Challenge, now in its third year, is a multidisciplinary competition that asks Chicago area high school students to think critically about environmental issues and their role in providing solutions. The Chicago Botanic Garden partners with teachers, students and Chicago-area organizations to encourage high school students to compete in 11 categories to win monetary prizes and awards for their high schools. The Burnham Plan Centennial is coordinating a city-wide celebration taking place throughout 2009 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1909 Plan of Chicago.