Akron’s National Inventors Hall of Fame STEM Middle School is among 25 semifinalists vying to win a lab makeover in a Fab School Labs contest sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation.
The public may vote for the school on Monday by visiting www.facebook.com/FabSchoolLabs. Once all the votes have been cast, a panel of judges will select five schools to receive grants of up to $100,000 each. Winning schools will work with a design and engineering company to help create their lab with new tools, resources and furnishings.
“As the STEM platform school for the district and region, [a new lab] would create opportunities for our learners to truly become grounded in the kind of experiences that employers are looking for,” said Sam Crews, Ohio STEM Learning Network Akron hub manager and a founding staff member of the school. “It would mean opportunities for inventing, prototyping and entrepreneurship. To have access to industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools would transform the learning from theory to application.”
Akron schools Superintendent David James agreed.
“The addition of a fab lab would set us apart from other schools in the region by empowering our learners to gain hands-on experience as early as fifth grade in machining, engineering, and design,” James said. “We know that there is a great demand for talent in Akron to fill high-wage manufacturing positions, and this laboratory would provide a new avenue to gain work-ready skills for our learners so that they are prepared for a rewarding career after they graduate.”
To be eligible for the contest, the STEM school had to submit a video, photos and share its vision and need for a state-of-the-art science lab.