Boston middle school students have been working with volunteers from nine leading real estate firms, organizations and institutions on plans for the city's future. Eighteen student representatives with volunteers presented their ideas to mayor Thomas Menino at City Hall as part of Citizen Schools' Design & Development Apprenticeship.
The presentation was the culmination of the 7th annual urban planning ideas competition that engages over 100 middle-schoolers each year.  Nine teams of students, real estate professionals, and Citizen Schools staff worked together to create a vision for public open spaces including Dorchester's Columbia Point, the city's Government Center complex, and a classroom at the John W. McCormack Middle School in Dorchester. Citizen Schools is a nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools to extend the learning day for low-income children.
Participating firms and institutions with teams were: Jones Lang LaSalle, Cubellis, Goody Clancy, Harvard School of Design, ICON Architecture, Altitude, Inc., Paul Lukez Architecture, Payette and Shepley Bulfinch.
Other institutions involved in the project in planning and advisory roles: Boston Redevelopment Authority, Carol Johnson Associates, Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, Columbia Point Task Force, Community Design Resource Center, Corcoran Jennison, Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge, Schneider Studio and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.