Teacher makes Imagination Lab a reality at CPES

Every time first grade teacher Sarah Cooley walked by the sunroom at Chelsea Park Elementary School, she knew the space had the potential to be something else.

“A few summers ago, I had a little journal and just sketched out a plan for that room,” Cooley said. “It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for years. I was really nervous when I took it to [Vice Principal Jessi] Adams, but I wanted to get approval before I wrote a grant. It was a quick yes from her.”

Adams said that as soon as she and Cooley began discussing her vision, she knew this space would be perfect for the students.

“Sarah Cooley is the type of teacher who parents hope their children will have and the teacher who students aspire to be,” Adams said. “She is always bringing new ideas to the classroom and the school that are student-centered, engaging and creative.”

As an educator, Cooley said play-based learning means a lot to her and is so important to a student’s development. She knew while studying at Samford University that she wanted her classroom to be different for creative play to be part of the daily routine.

Although Cooley had never seen a concept like hers before, she knew she wanted something STEM-based without a technology aspect, but instead, centered around play and make-believe. She said she was excited to create a space that would be used beyond her classroom and allow kids to do what they do best.

“The inspiration was the playhouse that I saw … from Imagine THAT! Playhouses based in Georgia,” Cooley said. “I found it first, and it inspired what was happening. The rest of the room I wanted to be whimsical and magical like going on a field trip [without leaving the school].”

Knowing the playhouse would be expensive, Cooley began budgeting and itemizing every item she would need for the space. She spent time browsing different websites to price the items she wanted to get and was able to come up with a final estimate.

She received a Nick Grant from the city of Chelsea and also funds that the school received from state Sen. Dan Roberts and state Rep. Corley Ellis.

Cooley began bringing items into the former sunroom in August. She and her husband spent many hours building furniture and transforming the room into a reality. Although it could have opened earlier, Cooley said that as a perfectionist, she wanted to have everything just right before students began to visit.

The lab is geared for students in kindergarten through second grade and has four main areas: a LEGO wall; an art and creativity station; a cafe and playhouse; and a block building station. Students can paint on easels and create items using a variety of art materials, they can pretend in the cafe and playhouse area, which has dress-up clothes, and they can also build creations using blocks and Legos.

Cooley describes The Imagination Lab as a space where play fosters creativity, innovation, perseverance, curiosity and wonder.

“Hopefully it will inspire students to dream big, imagine possibilities, and allow them to discover their own gifts,” she said. “I hope it is a magical place our students will always remember from their time in elementary school.”

Cooley said both students and teachers were excited when the Imagination Lab opened in March, and she has received many compliments and words of encouragement.

“Seeing the kids walk in and see the playhouse … they were screaming and so excited and shocked that the space was for them,” she said.

The Imagination Lab is a magical space that is colorful and fun, Adams said. She is excited to see the students use the lab for years to come.

“It really does make you want to explore your own creative ideas,” she said. “It is exciting to visit when the kids are there. They make the whole room come to life. Einstein said, ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun,’ and that’s the vision of the Imagination Lab.

Great things are happening at our school, and Sarah is a wonderful representative of our amazing teachers.”

Classes visit the Imagination Lab every other week. Cooley said the teachers are facilitators, but it is intended to be a child-led experience to allow the students to have ownership of the space and decide what they are going to do or create or just play and have fun.

This is Cooley’s 16th year of teaching, and she said this project has been one of the most exciting things that has happened in her career.

“This has been one of the hardest things I’ve done,” she said. “I’m glad it’s finished, but it’s been so rewarding, too, and something our school will have forever.”