Name: From Stories to Schoolyards
Start: 2026-11-12T08:00:00-0500
End: 2026-11-12T09:15:00-0500

Thursday November 12, 2026 8:00am - 9:15am EST

Over five months, FCPS students and community partners rolled up their sleeves and asked the hard questions, gathered real data, and let equity guide their conclusions. Working within the Trust for Public Land's Community Schoolyard framework — which transforms asphalt-heavy schoolyards into vibrant, green community spaces — students and partners examined the full landscape of FCPS schools through a multi-criteria lens: Where are health and economic disparities most acute? Where is the urban tree canopy thinnest? Where do residents lack safe, walkable access to green space? Which neighborhoods bear the greatest burden of environmental pollution? Where could a community schoolyard do the most good?The result was a student-driven Community Schoolyard Feasibility Study that was both rigorous and deeply human. Through Narrative 4's Story Exchange workshop, students, teachers, and community partners engaged in a structured yet intimate practice: listening to one another's stories, then retelling them in the first person. The outcome is not mere sympathy but genuine perspective-shifting — a proven catalyst for empathy, trust, and collective action.This session will walk participants through the full arc: how the partnership was structured, how the feasibility criteria were developed and applied, what the Story Exchange workshop looked like in practice, and what the students found. Participants will leave with practical tools, a replicable framework and a vivid example of what becomes possible when students are trusted as researchers, advocates and changemakers.

Speakers

Tresine Tatum Logsdon

Energy & Sustainability Coordinator, Fayette County Public Schools

Tresine Logsdon is the Energy & Sustainability Curriculum Specialist for Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS), where she drives student-driven sustainability innovation across the district. In this role, Tresine works closely with students, teachers, principals, community partners... Read More →

Evan Barker

Southeast Manager of the US, Narrative 4

Evan Barker is a Southeast Manager of the United States, responsible for TN, KY, WV, VA, NC, and SC. He began his career as an orchestra musician before accidentally becoming a bookseller and then an English teacher, coming to N4 after eight years in the secondary classroom. He believes... Read More →

Thursday November 12, 2026 8:00am - 9:15am EST
Bourbon Room 1801 Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY 40511

Community Engagement

KAEE 50th Annual Conference

Tresine Tatum Logsdon

Evan Barker

Get help with the event

KAEE 50th Annual Conference

Tresine Tatum Logsdon

Evan Barker

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