The Public Education Foundation has received a $1 million investment from an anonymous donor to open 15 eLabs in local public schools and to support the further development of Hamilton County Schools’ eLab network.
HCS eLabs provide students with learning opportunities in engineering, computing and environmental technology through hands-on activities with digital fabrication equipment, including 3D printing, microcomputing and robotics.
“We believe it’s essential for students to have learning experiences that will prepare them for the jobs of the future,” says Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. “These additional eLabs will significantly multiply the number of students who have access to a digital fabrication lab and put them on the path to future readiness.”
HCS opened the first Fab Lab in Tennessee at STEM School Chattanooga in 2014. The eLab network in Hamilton County is now comprised of 22 school-based digital fabrication labs.
The network includes five new HCS eLabs opened through the HCS Office of Innovation and Choice in 2020 in addition to the 16 VW eLabs that resulted from a $1 million investment from Volkswagen Group of America and the State of Tennessee in 2017.
According to the Fab Foundation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hamilton County Schools has more Fab Labs than any school district in the world.
The range of topics continues to grow, as well, as teachers and leaders refine the learning in the labs. At Dalewood Middle School, students leveraged the eLab to support a student racing team that built a custom electric car, complete with a solar charging station, that has won multiple Green Prix race championships across the Southeast.
Students from Sale Creek Middle High School used their eLab to create sustainable solutions for habitats in partnership with the Chattanooga Zoo.
High school students at Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences engaged in a joint project with their biology class and the eLab to 3D print scale model turbines equipped with microcontrollers and sensors to create a controllable wave tank for testing turbine designs.
To administer the anonymous donation, PEF and the HCS Office of Innovation and Choice will conduct a competitive process to select the schools to receive the new eLabs.
An open request for proposals will be available to every school in the district and a selection committee will award eLabs based on submitted proposals.
This selection process will be conducted annually, with five eLabs opening in August 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Current HCS eLab locations:
Brainerd High School
Brown Middle School
Chattanooga Center for the Creative Arts
Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences
Dalewood Middle School
East Hamilton High School
Harrison Bay Future Ready Center
Harrison Elementary School
Hixson High School
Hixson Middle School
Howard High School
Howard Connect Academy
Hunter Middle School
Loftis Middle School
Lookout Valley Middle High School
Normal Park Museum Magnet School
Ooltewah Middle School
Orchard Knob Middle School
Red Bank High School
Sale Creek Middle High School
Signal Mountain Middle High School
Soddy Daisy Middle School
STEM School Chattanooga
Source: PEF