Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

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

  • Colorado School District Breaks Ground on Unified PK–12 Campus

    The Haxtun School District No. Re-2J in Haxtun, Colo., recently announced that ground has been broken on a renovation/addition project that will unite its two schools, Haxtun Elementary and Haxtun Jr/Sr High School, according to a news release.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • Texas Recruitment

    Texas Recruitment

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Recruitment has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Grand Prize award in the category of Renovation.