New space opens for Forest Oak students

Forest Oaks Elementary students will have a new space to enjoy when school starts back this month.

FOES Principal Stevi Sims said the discussion for a STEM lab had been going on for some time. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. Sims said several teachers at FOES had been purchasing STEM items over the past several years, and some were already being utilized in their classrooms.

“We started thinking about what is a way to work smarter not harder and implement a program to also help with the digital literacy standard we provide,” Sims said. “We came up with the idea to create a stem lab in addition to the technology lab.”

The space, a former book room/teacher workroom, was the perfect spot to convert into a STEM lab. This is the second learning lab at FOES, which is also home to a technology lab that was created when the school was built almost ten years ago.

Several weeks before school ended In May, the new STEM lab was dedicated. In attendance were Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer, Dr. Reisa Brooks (who was the first principal at FOES) Shelby County Technology Coordinator Lauren Wooley Technology Program Area Specialist Tracy Davis.

Several students from each grade level were invited to visit the room and Sims said they were all very excited and asked to come back the next day.

“The goal of the STEM lab was to create a space that houses the STEM curriculum for all grades K-5 and provide students the opportunity to enhance their learning through more rigorous exploration and investigation,” said Sims. “They will be using different learning items such as Ozobots, Legos, MakerSpace tools, microscopes, Sphero coding items and weights and balances.”

Funds for the project came from the school’s PTO, which gave $3,000 from money raised during the school’s Hornet Hustle fun run. A $1,000 donation was received from Mathnasium of Inverness Corners and several donations were made by different families and teachers.

During allotted times students will rotate weekly visits between the STEM lab and the technology lab. Sims said a part-time aide would be hired to facilitate the curriculum in the STEM lab and technology lab with the PTO assisting in the funding of the position.

“We have several teachers that are on the STEM committee,” Sims said. Those teachers, in addition to several of our teachers that teach science and tech savvy, have met and discussed curriculum and standards and developed a lesson plan or a guide that the aid can implement along with the teachers' assistance to provide to the students.”

Sims said she is excited about the STEM lab and said it will continue to further expand learning and provide interactive collaboration for the students at FOES.

“There are items that cater more to younger groups in kindergarten and first grade as well as some for the older students,” Sims said. “It will be something different and fun and interactive so we're all really excited.”