Southern Door, Wis. (May 6, 2021) – The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) announced today that the Southern Door County School District is the recipient of a state grant to fund new fabrication laboratory (fab lab) facilities, which will equip Wisconsin students with essential skills for the 21st century’s global economy. The district was awarded $25,000 to expand the equipment in the elementary and middle school fab labs.
“WEDC has invested over $3.4 million for the past six years to provide 95 school districts across the state with the equipment necessary to help students learn high-demand skills, including technology, manufacturing and engineering,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “Fab labs benefit not only the students themselves with important technology and career skills, but they also benefit Wisconsin employers, who will be able to find workers with the right skills to allow their companies to grow and thrive.”
Including Southern Door, 28 school districts throughout the state are being awarded a total of $635,089 in Fab Labs Grants this year to establish or expand their fab labs.
WEDC’s Fab Labs Grant Program is designed to support hands-on learning in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM), by assisting public school districts with equipment purchases such as 3D printers, laser engravers, computer numerical control routers and plasma cutters for instructional and educational purposes.
Southern Door Superintendent Patricia Vickman said, “We appreciate the support from WEDC and our community, which has helped us to bring the engineering and design process now to all of our elementary, middle, and high school students. The additional equipment provided by this grant will enhance the hands-on, project-based learning opportunities of our PreK-12 STEAM curriculum, as students develop their 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.”
Fab labs have the potential to benefit individual students, school districts, the surrounding community and Wisconsin’s economy as a whole. For more information, visit WEDC’s fab lab resource page or follow #WIFabLab on Twitter.
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