OK Elementary School Gets Access to 2 STEM Centers

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 08/12/19

An army of volunteers from local nonprofits and companies showed up to an Oklahoma City elementary school to help set up two new STEM operations.

According to local reporting, employees from Home Depot turned a former lodge building into a learning center, with a paint job to the exterior and demolition on the interior. The Engage Learning center, named after the organization that will run it, will have its own staff and maker equipment. Engage Learning is an Oklahoma organization that sets up learning opportunities for students in the state; financial support comes from Devon Energy, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City.

While the space, which sits next to Mark Twain Elementary School, will be taken over by the younger students and their families during the school year, it will also serve middle schoolers and high schoolers, for organized STEM projects. The maker space will feature 3D printers, laser cutters, a wood shop and other tools community members can use.

The elementary school itself will also have a STEM area in its media center. The set-up inside the school was handled by volunteers from Devon Energy, which has provided help and mentoring for the school for 15 years. There, the STEM center will have LEGO kits, robotics, circuit sets, computing devices and 3D printers.

Financial support for STEM centers throughout the state is being provided by Devon Energy and the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation. The goal is for every elementary school in Oklahoma eventually to have a STEM center.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • Malibu High School Campus Completes $102M Phase 1 of Construction

    Malibu High School in Malibu, Calif., recently announced that it has completed phase 1 of construction for its new campus, a news release reports. The first phase consisted of developing and modernizing the site of a former elementary school into a new, 70,000-square-foot, two-story facility.

  • KI Wall Demonstrates New Solutions at NeoCon 2025

    KI Wall attended NeoCon 2025 in Chicago, Ill., last month to showcase its new architectural wall systems and collaborations, according to a news release. Its customizable, design-forward wall solutions are intended to support creativity in work, education, and healthcare environments.

  • Creating Long-Term Sustainability on College Campuses Through Fair Student Housing

    The quality of student housing can have a significant impact on an individual’s college experience. Today’s higher education institutions face mounting challenges, including declining enrollment, low retention rates between the first and second years, and a rise in student mental health concerns. Thoughtfully designed living spaces can help address these issues by creating environments that promote both academic focus and personal well-being.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.