Sandra Cryder

For the past 42 years, little has changed about the architectural face of Overlea High School. Cryder, along with teammates Bruce Ickes, Kay Jones, and Heather Wooldridge, saw this as an opportunity to construct an outdoor classroom serving as a multi-discipline learning center, while enhancing the school's campus. They created the "Sculpture and Reading Garden." Overlea's 1,350 students will be involved in every aspect of the room's creation, from design and construction to maintenance and publicity. Students will also reach out to community members for funding and additional resources, inviting them to use the room, upon its completion, for community functions. The area will be used to host poetry reading s, concerts, festivals and a wide variety of additional education events. Funds received will go to outfitting the outdoor space. The project will create a valuable classroom space, introduce public art to the community and instill a sense of school pride in students, faculty and staff. Cryder resides in Baltimore.