(Photo Courtesy of Pa Cyber)
(MIDLAND, Pa.) — The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School will bring hands-on STEM
opportunities to students with the addition of two mobile labs as part of PA Cyber's
Polytechnic program. The labs provide students all over the state the opportunity to
experience the STEM-based maker movement, taking their designs from computer
screens to robotic machines. Students and families will begin to see the first mobile lab
at PA Cyber events this fall and the second one next year.
The Polytechnic mobile labs come equipped with 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters, a
ShopBot, and more so that students can develop their ideas from conception to
fabrication. Once unloaded, each modern mobile lab is quickly set up by a trained
instructor where it’s needed—at a classroom, gymnasium, cafeteria, or even outside.
PA Cyber collaborated with the Carnegie Science Center to create the vehicles.
“By putting labs on wheels, PA Cyber makes high-quality, hands-on learning accessible
to more students in more places and in more modern ways,” says CEO Brian Hayden of
PA Cyber.
The PA Cyber Polytechnic programming aims to show students how to solve everyday
problems using crucial skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Past projects have included making catapults, spin art machines, mini food pantries,
bike racks, and sheds. Many student-built projects are donated to support Pennsylvania
communities.
PA Cyber Polytechnic includes partnerships with several colleges and universities to
provide critical STEM learning experiences, such as the Virtual Engineering Exploration
Experience, an eight-day summer camp in which experts from more than a dozen
colleges explain the various engineering professions. PA Cyber held its third VEEE
program in summer 2021.
“At the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, maker thinking is in part a core aspect of
the curriculum. The school aims to inspire future engineers, scientists, and technologists
because as we know, the learning never stops,” says Hayden.