Southside sets sights on SmartLab
(Photo by MARY MALONE) Southside Elementary is working toward a goal of raising $140,000 for a STEAM SmartLab, which they hope to have in place by the next school year.
COCOLALLA — The STEAM program at Southside Elementary has continued to grow and flourish over the past four years, giving the students opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have
While the school’s STEAM program has proven successful in giving the kids options in science, technology, engineering, art and math, Southside principal Jacque Johnson and librarian Lynette Leonard said they are not stopping there — a STEAM SmartLab is next on the list. While it comes with a hefty price tag of $140,000, which will be funded solely through grants and donations, Leonard said they will see their dream through.
“We will become the first school in Idaho to have a SmartLab,” Leonard said. “So we are kind of being a pioneer for a STEAM SmartLab in the state and raising the bar in North Idaho, giving these kids the opportunity to be on top in STEAM education.”
The SmartLab is a classroom where everything, including the furniture, is designed for collaboration. The SmartLab will feature four collaboration islands, 12 large-screen computers, progressive curriculum that goes beyond Next Gen standards, supplemental kits for circuitry, computer graphics, robotics, scientific data and analysis, math and more.
Leonard and Johnson had the opportunity to tour a SmartLab at a school in Washington, and Johnson said what was “awesome” was the amount of student choice available.
Students choose a topic, and then there is a required academic piece that “lays the foundation” before they move on to hands-on interaction and invention, she said. The entire process is documented with a PowerPoint presentation, which the students create as they go along. The PowerPoint is then sent out to all of the parents and others in the community, Johnson said.
“So it’s accountability as well as celebration,” she said.
The school’s STEAM efforts over the past four years have resulted in a number of options for the kids, including robotics, music, dance, archaeology and gardening.
Last year, the school library was transformed into a makerspace, with a 3D printer that allows the kids to participate in — and win — competitions like FabSLAM, a national 3D fabrication and design challenge in which the students have competed regionally for the past two years. Fifth and sixth graders also took top honors in the regional Mars Rover Challenge recently. The school has also added an “Afterschool STEAM” and summer camps to the list of STEAM programs at Southside.
Johnson says she envisions using the SmartLab as a science class. The school already has technology built into the schedule, so having it structured as a science/technology class would add as emphasis on science. Also, she said, the students have already focused on different areas such as math programs, reading programs, digital citizenship, keyboarding skills and more.
“This is stepping it up to a whole other level that provides a really good opportunity for them to practice all that they have learned,” Johnson said.
The SmartLab will also be used during the after school and summer STEAM programs, as well as special classroom projects. Teachers will be able to reserve time and check out equipment.
“During the summer, our camps could be open to the whole community,” Leonard said. “So anybody in this community has the opportunity to come in and take advantage of our SmartLab, and have that opportunity to learn science in a new, innovative way.”
As for funding the SmartLab, Leonard has applied for a number of grants, and continues to search for more, though help from the community is going to be crucial as well. About $10,000 has been raised so far, and the goal is to have the SmartLab up and running before the start of school next year.
In addition to accepting small individual donations, several sponsorship opportunities ranging from $500 to $40,000 are available as well.
Sponsorships of $500 and above will be recognized on plaques in the SmartLab, and each level above that comes with additional benefits. The first to donate $40,000 will have naming rights for the SmartLab or the collaborative islands.
For information or to donate, contact Johnson or Leonard at Southside, 208-263-3020, or by email at jacquelyn.johnson@lposd.org and lynette.leonard@lposd.org.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.