We envision starting a makerspace/STEAM (science, tinkering, engineering, art, and math) lab at the school, named Innovation Lab, or iLab. The lab will bring our students closer to opportunities in STEAM fields by exposing them to the learning experiences needed for the 21st century.
iLab is a place for exploration and discovery. It will be where students realize they can express themselves through textiles, but also stand in wide-eyed wonder of plastic extruding from their once-abstract creations. Students will not only learn to independently acquire new skills, such as 3D printing and sewing, but to use design thinking to solve problems collaboratively. Students will not be relegated to achieve for the sake of college, but build an emotional intelligence quotient (i.e. “soft skills”) necessary to prepare them for the ever-changing workforce.
Practically, the space is envisioned to serve every student in the middle school and the community itself. Student will rotate their enrichment period to our STEAM lab in the course of the year. Our projects will include building prototypes of sustainable housing, cardboard automata, button making, LED cards, and other exciting endeavors. Ultimately, the projects will be founded on design thinking to create human-centered solutions to community problems.
The STEAM lab will be more than a classroom, but an extension of the Maker Movement to the greater school community. The opportunity for their endeavors needs to be created. Our students are tenacious and hungry for hands-on experiences. The makerspace would provide that small, but mighty bridge toward the opportunities students deserve.
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We envision starting a makerspace/STEAM (science, tinkering, engineering, art, and math) lab at the school, named Innovation Lab, or iLab. The lab will bring our students closer to opportunities in STEAM fields by exposing them to the learning experiences needed for the 21st century.
iLab is a place for exploration and discovery. It will be where students realize they can express themselves through textiles, but also stand in wide-eyed wonder of plastic extruding from their once-abstract creations. Students will not only learn to independently acquire new skills, such as 3D printing and sewing, but to use design thinking to solve problems collaboratively. Students will not be relegated to achieve for the sake of college, but build an emotional intelligence quotient (i.e. “soft skills”) necessary to prepare them for the ever-changing workforce.
Practically, the space is envisioned to serve every student in the middle school and the community itself. Student will rotate their enrichment period to our STEAM lab in the course of the year. Our projects will include building prototypes of sustainable housing, cardboard automata, button making, LED cards, and other exciting endeavors. Ultimately, the projects will be founded on design thinking to create human-centered solutions to community problems.
The STEAM lab will be more than a classroom, but an extension of the Maker Movement to the greater school community. The opportunity for their endeavors needs to be created. Our students are tenacious and hungry for hands-on experiences. The makerspace would provide that small, but mighty bridge toward the opportunities students deserve.
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