Indian Prairie School District 204 recently launched Studio 204, a STEM focused learning center at the Kathryn J. Birkett Center.
“Students today more than ever need to be hands on. They need to be engaged and often it’s hard to do that,” said Laura Nylen, Director of Digital Learning and STEM Integration at District 204.
To celebrate the opening of the new lab, fifth graders from Fry Elementary participated in a STEM focused lesson.
“This was an opportunity to bring the kids into Studio 204,” said Nylen. “Mrs. Johnson is our STEM integration specialist, and she’s the one leading the lesson right now with the students. And really just taking it to a deeper level than sometimes we can get to in the classroom.”
Studio 204 and SAM Labs bring STEM learning to students
The lesson for the students was a SAM Labs activity, and the founder of the company was in attendance for the opening of the center.
“SAM Labs is a way to make science, STEM, and career ready skills engaging for all ages.” said Joachim Horn, the founder of SAM Labs.
Students used SAM Labs kits to test their imaginations and practice their coding skills. These kits contain motors, lights, wheels, controllers and more that the students used their chromebooks to operate.
“So SAM Labs is two parts. There is hardware and there’s software. And the beauty of it is that it’s all hands on. Students go in and they code different programs, different systems, and then they have blocks that they pair so they can actually build their prototypes as well,” said Nylen.
Next steps for Studio 204
Nylen says the next step for Studio 204 is bringing in more students and educators.
“What we’re hoping to do is start with our district leadership team, which is one person per grade level, which those leaders are the ones that speak for the voice of their grade level. And our hope is that starting next year and as we continue to transition this building, that those students will be the first classrooms after this one to come in,” said Nylen.
As for Horn, he hopes Studio 204 can be a model for the future.
“Here we really have an opportunity to not just welcome these students and make sure that we set them up for success. But eventually also, as I said, be a beacon for neighboring districts to come and to let their educators experience what it’s like to really thoughtfully think about what it’s like to prepare our kids for the future.”
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