S.E. Gross Middle School, District 95

STEAM SUCCESS STORY

Growing Popularity Among Students and Staff

Challenge

A state-of-the-art STEM lab was a part of the vision of a 15,000 sq. ft. renovation plan to incorporate STEAM programs at S.E. Gross to ensure the school and its students were well positioned for the future. Ryan Evans, principal of S.E. Gross Middle School, was looking for a perfect STEAM partner and was in the process of meeting several STEAM providers, when he heard about TinkRworks during an interview process with a candidate.

Solution

TinkRworks and S.E. Gross have had a three-year relationship, with the STEM lab opening in the fall of 2019. Students were able to complete a full semester in the lab as a chosen elective.

Evans said that TinkRworks programing has exceeded his expectations to the point where S.E. “If we need help with something, it’s not going to take forever. It will get taken care of swiftly, whether that be fixing a 3D printer or taking care of the curriculum side of things,” said Evans. Gross is looking to increase STEAM projects and staff members to teach these courses. Once the elective enrollment opened it was the most requested elective with about 180 students out of about 400 choosing it as an elective course. Students participated in two specific TinkRworks signature projects: Art Electric and TinkRbot.