S.T.E.A.M. Lab opens at Newman Elementary School

When the Chino Kiwanis Club started looking last year for a project to help local students, Newman Elementary School Principal Luke Hackney had plenty of ideas.

One of those -- a lab to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics -- was realized August 23 during a festive ribbon cutting and open house ceremony at the Chino school.

The lively S.T.E.A.M. Lab event was attended by several Kiwanis members, Board of Education President Sylvia Orozco and member James Na, Chino Mayor Eunice Ulloa, Chino Valley Unified School District Superintendent Wayne M. Joseph and other District administrators, Newman parents and staff members, and the hundreds of Newman students who will use the new lab beginning the first week of September.

The Kiwanis Club provided $16,500 to outfit a modular classroom on the Newman campus with furniture, cabinets, a teacher’s desk, a sign, and 10 kits that will allow students to create a moving mechanism. Newman teachers Judy Narahara and Sarah Sheetz, and instructional coach Amanda Long did most of the behind-the-scenes work on the project, as well as decorating the lab, and scheduling students for its use, Mr. Hackney said. Woodcrest Junior High instructional coach Lisa Lista also provided “great ideas” for the lab, the principal said.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony, Mayor Ulloa urged the students to “go create fantastic things!” Chino Kiwanis President Fred Street talked about the background of the project and later said his club has “adopted” the school and will provide more assistance.

In addition to helping get the S.T.E.A.M. Lab going, the service club members also donated $5,000 to Newman so students could take a field trip to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Club members also hope to provide t-shirts for the school’s running team, Street said.

During the lab’s open house, four Newman students experimented with the S.T.E.A.M. kits that include batteries, lights, sensors, gears, and wheels. Within minutes, they had constructed a working buzzer.