Amazon opens STEM labs at Berwick, Central Columbia middle schools

New STEM labs open for area middle schoolers

The Details

Amazon and community leaders from Columbia and Luzerne counties cut the ribbon on a new hands-on STEM lab at Berwick Middle School earlier this week.

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Think Big Spaces give students the opportunity to solve real-world problems with their hands.

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Amazon has established about 120 Think Big Spaces around the world, with two of the newest coming to Pennsylvania.

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Amazon and community leaders from Columbia and Luzerne counties recently cut the ribbon on a new hands-on STEM lab at Berwick Middle School, then headed to Central Columbia Middle School, where students presented projects built in their own Think Big Space, which has been up and running since the start of the school year.

The innovation labs give middle school students room to build robots, write code and engineer their own designs, solving real-world problems with their hands instead of from a textbook.

“These innovation hubs give students the chance to get hands-on with real-world learning,” said Ramon Lorenzo, cluster operations leader at Amazon. “There are around 120 of these labs across the world, and today we’re opening two new ones right here.”

The labs won’t be reserved for STEM classes, as the participating schools’ Empowerment Collaborative program will use them too, putting the space within reach of all students.

“Not only will this space be where our STEM students can work, but our Empowerment Collaborative program as well,” said Dave Robbins, principal of Berwick Middle School. “This will give all students in the district an opportunity to learn.”

“Technology is something that’s constantly changing, and school districts can’t keep up. With [Amazon Web Services’] support, we’re getting products and technologies that we couldn’t expose our kids to previously, but they’ll have that opportunity now thanks to Amazon’s support,” said Jason Bendle, superintendent of Berwick Area School District. “It fits right in with our Empowerment Collaborative, which is project- and problem-based learning. This gives real-world technology for our kids to explore different learning.”

At Central Columbia Middle School, students led an interactive showcase of projects built in their own Think Big Space, walking guests through what they designed, how they built it and what they learned along the way.

“Amazon’s here not just to pay for the space, but to also help us program. It’s really a creative space, even for adults to be innovative, and has changed the way Central Columbia students have learned,” Central Columbia Middle School Principal Chad Heintzelman said.

“Amazon has been an exceptional partner for this area,” said Jeffrey Groshek, superintendent of Central Columbia School District.

Amazon places Think Big Spaces in communities near its data center operations.

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