A school in Vermillion is looking at a new way to educate students. State officials opened a new science and technology lab for elementary grades.
Jolley Elementary School teachers and students cut the ribbon for the new STREAM lab. STREAM stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Art and Mathematics. Inside the lab there are stations with educational equipment. One group is running a machine through creating a circuit board while another is programming a robot to navigate a maze.
The lab is a product of school administrators and teachers. They want to prepare students for changing fields in science and technology. The lab is packed with everything from games about computer coding to a 3-D printer.
Several state officials attended the ceremony including University of South Dakota President Jim Abbott, the university's Dean of Education Donald Easton-Brooks and Lieutenant Governor Matt Michels. Michels told the students he hopes these programs teach them to pursue their goals.
“The learning of science and technology whether it’s engineering or it’s all coming together and we’re going to need you. And it doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl or you’re white or dark or anything like that none of those matters. It’s just that you love it, you dream it and you do it to take care of others right?” says Michels.
Michels says he hopes to have more labs like this in schools across the state. He says it comes down to the teachers and administrators to start these programs.