2019 Education magazine

2019 “Education making a difference” LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 Page 9 T his year students at Lincoln Junior High School are broadening their understanding of technology fields in a newly designed STEM Lab. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, and the focus for STEM curriculum is often on these areas. The Eaton STEM Lab was set up with funding from Eaton and the Healthy Communities Grant and its operation is supported by local businesses. Barb Coffey, Technology Integrationist at LJHS said, “The STEM lab will allow students to do hands-on activities that reinforce grade level standards in all content areas.” Coffey said, “At the start of last school year, Superintendent [Kent] Froebe asked if I would begin plans for a STEM Lab at LJHS since the computer lab would no longer be needed once we were 1:1. We visited several other schools in the local area to see how they had setup their labs and began the process of designing a space that was flexible and fun for students.” Funding was needed for the lab and Coffey said, “In order to pay for the lab space we submitted a grant application to EATON and they awarded us $15,000 to help with the initial cost of setup. In the past, they have supported our school district so that we could get to our 1:1 initiative. In recognition of their support, we decided to name the lab the EATON STEM LAB.” Coffey said, “In addition to funds from EATON, our district also utilized the Healthy Community Grant to purchase Lego EV3 Mindstorm sets so that we will be able to begin an after-school Robotics club and team District 27 Superintendent Kent Froebe, School Board President Stephen Rohrer and Technology Integrationist Barb Coffey cut the ribbon to open the Eaton STEM Lab. “We are especially grateful to Eaton for their donations that helped make this a reality,’ Coffey said. LJHS new Eaton STEM Lab sparks learning CONTINUED