In the spring of 2006, the Assembly of Architects served as a sponsoring organization to a group of University of St. Thomas graduate students, in conjunction with a semester long project management class.

The concept for the sponsorship was developed by University of St. Thomas Profession , Dr. Ernest Owens. The program objective was to have teams of students that were divided into three groups, work with a “sponsoring” non-profit organization on three projects to hone their project management skills. One of the projects developed into a youth outreach and education activity called “The Drawing Board Project” and has been re-created to become a pilot environmental literacy program at Benjamin E. Mays Magnet School in St. Paul .

This was an opportunity for students to gain exposure both to the non-profit world, and more importantly, to work with a diverse group of talented professionals. Both the Assembly of Architects volunteers and the St. Thomas students will benefit from this relationship for years to come, it was an opportunity not only for the students to hone their project management skills, but it also gave them exposure to the non-profit world and even more importantly it exposed them to a diverse group of talented individuals.