Students at a Robinson elementary school will now be able to get their Lego fix in the classroom.
And school district officials hope the kids learn something along the way.
A first-of-its-kind “Brick Makerspace” opened Thursday at Montour Elementary School “giving students opportunities to design, make, and think creatively,” the school district said.
Supported by Lego Educations solutions, the makerspace will focus on enhancing spatial, fine motor, social, language and creative skills for students at the K-4 school.
“At Montour, we like to use the learning terms ‘hands-on, minds-on’ for tactile educational activities that spark motivation and excitement,” Montour superintendent Christopher Stone said in a press release. “The new Brick Makerspace powered by Lego Education solutions is certainly an inspiring environment where our kids can imagine, design, create, and share ideas with one another.”
Students will make creations at different stations, including an animation studio, library, test track, architecture, engineering and collaborative building center. The school district said it hopes the makerspace helps students learn science, technology, art, math, language arts, architecture and engineering.
Jason Burik, Montour Elementary’s co-principal, and Justin Aglio, the school district’s director of academic achievement and innovation came up with the idea for the makerspace. Mr. Burik is a Lego artist who has made creations for Google, Stanford University, Nationwide Insurance, NFL, NHL, MLB, NCAA teams and others.
Montour students, parents, teachers, administrators, Lego Education, Carnegie Mellon University, Barnes and Noble and Parkway West Career and Technology Center collaborated on the construction of the makerspace.
“Supporting Montour Elementary School’s new Brick Makerspace with our Lego Education solutions is a natural collaboration as we share the same priorities of student-centered learning and the dedication to sparking and engaging the innate curiosity of every student with hands-on playful learning tools,” Silver McDonald, head of LEGO Education North America, said in a press release. “We look forward to seeing what the students using the new space will imagine, build and create for years to come, and how the 21st century skills they are acquiring will inspire and equip them for their future careers.”
First Published: February 23, 2018, 2:27 a.m.
