Sparta — What did students in Ericka McKellar’s eighth-grade STEM class see when they looked at the underutilized two-level library adjacent to their classroom?
Opportunity.
As part of a project last semester, the class reimagined the library area at Sparta Middle School as a makerspace — a collaborative area where students can gather, collaborate and work on projects, and where educators can make use of project-based learning opportunities.
“They had to redesign this space to make it more usable for students,” McKellar said, noting that the students shuffled tables around, got rid of extra furniture, and opened up the library to turn it into a usable group space.
With classroom libraries growing in popularity, the actual library itself was getting less and less attention, McKellar said. So it made sense to transform the space into something that would be more useful to students and teachers.
‘… I think kids learn a lot of critical thinking skills that are unique to STEM that are going to help them in their careers someday and in life.’
— Sparta Middle School Principal Brad Wood
“We wanted to make this space something that classes could utilize — not only my class, but other classes,” McKellar said, adding later: “This is going to be a screen-free, hands-on place, which they don’t get a lot of anymore.”
So she wrote some grants, drew up fliers to seek help from the community, and the transformation began. Though still in progress, the makerspace is now being used by STEM students and others in the middle school.
“I’ve used it, the math department’s used it, one of our language arts teachers used it,” McKellar said. “It’s a shared space with shared supplies.”
Room for Collaboration
Eighth-graders Zack Rozelle, Miah Siefken and Felix Jaimes, who have enjoyed the availability of the new space, are thrilled about its potential.
Miah said the most exciting thing about the makerspace is “the creativity that people show” while at work in the area. Zack and Felix observed that it’s handy to have so much more space for STEM projects.
“It’s nice to have an area bigger than (McKellar’s) room,” said Zack, “for bigger projects where you need more materials.”
Felix, standing near the entrance to the makerspace from McKellar’s classroom, said it’s “just way easier to work on projects in here.”
“This area is for different groups, and it really helps you focus because of how big the room is,” he said.
‘This is going to be a screen-free, hands-on place, which they don’t get a lot of anymore.’
— teacher Ericka McKellar
Felix hopes to go into the engineering field someday, and said the additional space makes STEM — which is already his favorite class — even more enjoyable.
“I actually work harder in here than in any other class,” Felix said. “This interests me, and I try harder in here because it’s way more interactive.”
So far, students have used the space to design their own mini golf holes, food trucks and roller coasters.
“We made a food truck. It was made out of cardboard, and it was really interesting to work on,” Felix said. “What I like the best about this place is that there’s so much more room, and you can focus way more.”
Unique Skills
Sparta Middle School Principal Brad Wood said the creation of a makerspace is worthwhile and important because it expands the school’s offerings in the booming STEM area.
“It’s not just math or engineering, it’s math and engineering,” Wood said. “It’s learning how to be creative, learning how to work in a group effectively.
“(Students) are given a lot of choice on how they want to design things, so I think kids learn a lot of critical thinking skills that are unique to STEM that are going to help them in their careers someday and in life.”
McKellar said the school is accepting donations to support the continued development of the makerspace. Donations of unused craft supplies, clean cardboard boxes, tubes, vinyl, tape, Legos and more can be dropped off in the school office. Financial donations are also accepted.
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