Contact: Wendy Campbell
STARKVILLE, Miss.āA Mississippi State Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design team is the recipient of a prestigious national accolade for innovative work at a local elementary school.
The group of approximately 60 Ļć½¶Ö±²„students and faculty advisors was recognized with an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects at its recent annual conference in Los Angeles, California.
The project, which began a few years ago as a design exercise in Associate Professor Peter Summerlinās Construction Materials class, transformed a central outdoor area at Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School Districtās Sudduth Elementary School into a courtyard designed for outdoor dining and classroom instruction, encouraging learning through motion, activity and play. The Ļć½¶Ö±²„team partnered with the Sudduth parent-teacher organization and elementary staff and students to bring to life a final design that features talking tubes, an abstract forest, a stone abacus and winding caterpillar bench. Elementary students provided project feedback and suggestions, including the designās shape, color and scale.
āThe project represents what weāre about here at Mississippi State on a national scale,ā Summerlin said. āThe things that we care about are craftsmanship, service, collaboration and a commitment to making the world brighter and more fun.ā
In addition to Summerlin, who also is the parent of a Sudduth student, the team was advised by instructors Simon Powney and Casey Johnson as well as former Assistant Professor Abbey Franovich. Ļć½¶Ö±²„landscape architecture graduates Rachel Bowers and Jake Lindley accepted the award with Summerlin at the conference.
Bowers, a spring 2026 graduate from Carey, North Carolina, who is pursuing a masterās degree in urban design from the University of Michigan, said the project āreinforced the fact that small-scale community improvements really do matter, and they can actually have the biggest impact.ā
āThe courtyard has a second life now,ā she said, āand itās really fulfilling to see a designās real-life implications knowing the intention and work that went into it.ā
Lindley, a Tupelo native who earned his masterās degree in landscape architecture in 2024, said his fellow Ļć½¶Ö±²„students were invested in the project.Ā Ā
āIn class, when youāre constantly encouraged to question your work, you always end up with a more meaningful result,ā he said. āItās about taking something basic and making it good, then making good great, and making great exceptional.ā
In addition to Bowers and Lindley, former student team members include:
āAUBURN, Alabama: Katherine Barlow, 2025 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and 2026 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āBANGLADESH: Quazi Fahim, 2025 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āBRANDON: Audria Hicks, 2023 Bachelor of Architecture and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āBUDA, Texas: Jacquelyn Smith, 2023 Bachelor of Architecture and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āCARY, North Carolina: Natalie Bowers, 2023 Bachelor of Architecture and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
ĀāDALLAS, Texas: Travis Bryan, 2024 Bachelor of Architecture and 2025 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āFALLON, Illinois: Jacob Land, 2025 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture graduate
āHUNTSVILLE, Alabama: Caya Perry, 2023 Bachelor of Architecture and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āPEARL: Xayvion Ross, 2026 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture graduate
āPERKINSTON: Brianna Jackson, 2023 Bachelor of Science in Interior Design and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āRIPLEY: Conner Griffin, 2023 Bachelor of Architecture and 2024 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
āVERBENA, Alabama: Isabella Jones, 2025 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and 2026 Master of Landscape Architecture graduate
For more about MSUās and , visit their websites.
is taking care of what matters.