Innovation In Action
For Center Grove’s District Innovation Coach Erin Brown, the little light bulb moments she witnesses inside the Innovation Center are the highlights of her day.
“I think we as adults are just so structured in our thinking and kids are still so imaginative. I’m amazed by the ideas that they come up with on how to build or how to create something,” Brown says.
Whether it’s designing a rain barrel to collect water after reading a passage about water scarcity in other parts of the world, developing and testing your own bumper car, or running a virtual pizza shop, the opportunities for students to exercise their minds in new ways are endless when combined with Brown’s passion for hands-on learning.
“One thing that I love about being at the Innovation Center is that kids who sometimes struggle with the rigid part of classroom work come here and kind of just open up,” Brown says. “We take the standards that they’re learning in the classroom, and extend the learning here with hands-on projects.”
Center Grove’s Innovation Center opened on the school corporation’s campus in 2016. The flexible learning space now welcomes all students, from Kindergarten through fifth grade, for unique learning experiences three times a year. Brown takes the learning on the road to the preschool program, and brings STEM-style educational projects to both middle schools.
The building also houses a middle school STEM club, space for CG’s award-winning Red Alert Robotics Team, summer camps, community science nights led by high school students and more.
Brown has been in her role for about 2 years now, working to grow opportunities for young students and provide support for teachers across the corporation so they can continue hands-on learning projects back in their classrooms with materials and curriculum. Another goal for Brown, a parent herself, is to provide additional opportunities for parent volunteers to get involved.
“This gives parents a different opportunity to get involved and the activity still be learning-centered,” Brown says. “It’s not just a Valentine’s Day party, it’s their child’s education. It provides an opportunity to see their own child bloom in this kind of environment and that’s really cool.”
She recalls a grandmother of a student who was surprised to hear her young granddaughter discussing engineering design at the beach on a family vacation, saying she learned about it at the Innovation Center.
“For a girl to be enthralled with what she was doing here, and take that knowledge outside the classroom to the beach — she’s not just playing in the sand. She’s having a conversation about what STEM is and how she could see herself in that field in the future,” Brown says.
Brown is working through experiences at the Innovation Center to engage young minds in STEM education at a young age to connect them to Project Lead the Way (PLTW), which is a class that requires all students to be collaborative, creative, and utilize critical thinking skills. PLTW classes focus on learning about the most vital fields and professions most in demand in the world today and tomorrow.
“Giving students more access to STEM supports the corporation’s desire to grow in this area,” Brown says. “We have amazing pathways at Center Grove built for PLTW from middle to high school, so we really wanted to start incorporating our elementary school students on that pathway.”
Brown says the CG administration is eager to support these new ways to engage students in critical thinking through hands-on learning. With their support, she is engaging more teachers and Parent Teacher Organizations to open up minds to possibilities of learning in this engaging way.
Now she’s looking for ways to support the Innovation Center and opportunities for all students through sponsorships. As the STEM program continues to grow at the Innovation Center and across all of Center Grove’s school buildings, it takes time and money to develop curriculum and provide the materials needed for hands-on education.
Local businesses can sponsor the Innovation Center in a number of ways, like sponsoring a garage bay inside the building where students work or by funding materials and equipment. Parents will continue to have more opportunities to lend a helping hand inside these walls.
For Brown, the opportunity for kids to brainstorm, collaborate, design, test and redesign is a life lesson in problem solving, skills they can take with them into the future.
“I teach for the “a-ha” moments. I teach for when kids truly light up and shine,” Brown says. “They really explode in what they’re doing, because they get the option. It’s not writing, it’s not having to put something down on paper. They’re brainstorming an idea and then they get to bring it to life right then and there. I learn from them every day.”
Learn more about ways to support all Center Grove students and hands-on STEM education at the Innovation Center by visiting www.centergrove.k12.in.us/district/facilities/project-archive/innovation-center.
