Pioneer Valley Regional School Innovation Center Update

The Innovation Center goals are:

Teach Middle School computer science and high school engineering design
More generally, teach innovation, the application of math, science, the engineering design process, and presentation and documentation skills

Our focus is on hands-on, creative doing of projects (after learning the technologies and math and science involved). Even with COVID, high school engineering design students have completed robotics and electronics projects taking home materials as needed. Middle schoolers work on a computer programming platform (using their Chromebooks) called Computer Science Discoveries from code.org

Example engineering design projects: COVID apps, social distance robot, make your own switches (from office supplies), 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC routing (coming soon), drones, Arduino microcomputers and circuits, and design your own musical instrument.
Middle school web sites using HTML and CSS, design and code your own computer games, design your own COVID apps.

As as add more high tech fabrication equipment, Facilities has completed a much needed and overdue cleanup of the shop, which has become a place to fabricate parts for design projects out of: wood (using traditional wood tools and machines), 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC routing. See below for a photo of high seniors Max and Nolan setting up the laser cutter.