Next year the High School’s library will be replaced with a brand new STEM lab.

Superintendent Dave Tosh first announced plans for the STEM lab were first revealed at the March 13 school board meeting.

The expected renovations required to convert the library will be paid for with pandemic era ESSERS funding.

Exact details of the conversion were not made until the board’s April 11 meeting where Principal Tara Carey gave a presentation outlining the plans for the future STEM lab.

“A STEM approach at the high school will aid students with being flexible, detecting patterns, finding connections and evaluating information all of which are skills valued by any path they choose—career, college or military,” said Carey. “Learning will be connected to real world application.”

Carey also told the board the STEM lab will benefit students by advancing their education. 

“The new buzzword is ‘transdisciplinary learning’ . . . [STEM is] no longer just Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. It’s also business and management, financial planning, reading and writing.”

The intended layout of the STEM lab is based on collaborative areas seen at Michigan University. The high school’s STEM lab will include computers and write-on whiteboard tables, in addition to two 3D printers, drones and devices used to practice coding.

“Who has a two-story library? We are going to be able to use the drones indoors and get the kids excited.”

Although Carey was the one presenting to the board, she made sure to credit the teachers who have developed the plan thus far, namely science teachers Ryan Hettes and Diane Gordon and Science Department Chair Rob Bonczewski.

“I have to give credit to our teachers who are in the science and math department. They really, really thought about who we can get to come here.”

School board members expressed their support for the planned STEM lab.

“I like the idea that it provides a broad scope that appeals to all different students in a hands-on approach,” said board member Nick Wilson.

Removing the bookshelves and clearing out the library will be first in the district’s plan, but the current contents of the library won’t be put to waste, says Carey.

Each department in the school will be given the chance to survey the various books in the library and will take those applicable to their subject for their use. The majority of the books in the library are usable. Any that are left will be put in storage.

The trophies in the library will be put in storage as well. Ones that aren’t outdated or irrelevant will be put in cases. The tables and chairs located in the library will also be repurposed.

Renovations on the library area are expected to be finished by September of next school year, but a definitive start date is not yet known.

Nonetheless, Tosh says that others in the district beyond the high school are also anticipating the completion of the STEM lab.

“I had a number of middle school teachers and elementary school teachers reach out to me and ask would they be able to have access to the STEM lab at one point,” said Tosh. “I said let Mrs. Carey get this up and running. Let us get a foundation in and at some point we can integrate it at a K-12 level.”