The third annual Chattanooga Fabrication Institute will gather nearly 200 educators in Chattanooga, Monday-Wednesday. The Public Education Foundation, in partnership with Hamilton County Schools and Volkswagen Group of America, is hosting this one-of-a-kind professional development experience in the world-leading VW and HCS eLabs in Hamilton County Schools. The institute is made possible thanks to the support of Volkswagen Group of America.
The three-day digital fabrication institute offers teachers and principals an opportunity to engage in hands-on learning with 3D printing, laser engraving/cutting, vinyl cutting, CNC routing, micro-computing, and more. The institute will feature HCS student presentations on their experiences in eLabs during the pandemic. Each morning will begin with presentations from national leaders in STEM education including a panel of representatives from Chattanooga Engineers Week and an interactive keynote address from acclaimed author of The Space and education designer, Rebecca Louise Hare. Following the morning sessions to kick off each day, participants will move to one of five local schools with an eLab where they will engage in daily hands-on workshops designed and led by HCS teachers.
The immersive design empowers participants to gain first hand experience with the state-of-the-art technology that is transforming how students engage in learning. “PEF is delighted to host our third Fab Institute, which will provide many teachers with the opportunity to learn and share best practices in digital fabrication and problem-based learning,” said Dr. Dan Challener, president of Public Education Foundation. “We are especially happy to welcome a large group of elementary school teachers to this year’s institute. This August, many of these elementary teachers will be working in brand new eLabs in seven elementary schools across Hamilton County. Thanks to these teachers and dozens more across the county, our students—be they elementary school students or high school seniors, will be able to use the most current technology to solve the problems of today – and tomorrow.”
While the institute attracts attention from across the country, it also directly supports the HCS Future Ready 2023 strategic plan. “Accelerating Future Ready Students is a strategic priority for us,” said Dr. Bryan Johnson, superintendent of Hamilton County Schools. “The collaboration of our community and great teachers continues to produce rich learning experiences and pathways to new career opportunities for students. We are excited to share the innovative learning tools used to prepare future ready graduates.”
“In the Volkswagen and Hamilton County Schools eLabs, students learn a variety of skills which will help them be successful in the future, no matter what path they choose,” said Burkhard Ulrich, senior vice president of human resources at Volkswagen Chattanooga. “Although we cannot predict exactly what jobs will exist in the future, we know that today’s students need to learn skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and communication. In the eLabs, educators help bring state-of-the-art equipment alive for students so that they develop these valuable skills.”
In March 2017, PEF, Hamilton County Schools, Volkswagen Group of America, and the State of Tennessee established a partnership that pioneered strategies to effectively integrate digital fabrication labs, or “Fab Labs,” in schools. That partnership initially resulted in the development of 16 VW eLabs across HCS. Building on the momentum, the labs have continued to grow with a recent $1 million anonymous donation to PEF to expand access to the labs into elementary schools, marking HCS as the global leader in school-based Fab Labs.
“The Chattanooga Fab Institute shines a bright spotlight on some of the innovative opportunities for students and teachers in Hamilton County Schools,” said Michael Stone, vice president of Innovative Learning at PEF. “The eLab teachers facilitating these workshops are innovative leaders who are actively redefining how we prepare students for the modern workforce, and the collaborative effort is attracting attention from around the world.”
For more information, please visit www.vwelab.org/chattfab.