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FridayMusings Friday, October 21, 2022    Helping define Livonia Quality of Life

Clarenceville Engineering Lab moving on up to be state of the art

Deb Kummer "my end goal is that in a few years when 8th-grade parents in metro Detroit are shopping for a high school for their STEM-bound kid, they know Clarenceville is their GO-TO STEM school."

At the end of June a partnership between Masco, AlphaUSA, and Livonia Kids & Families set out to transform the Clarenceville High School Engineering Lab into if not a state-of-the-art lab one that was pretty damn close to being the best.

One of the key ingredients was the hiring of teacher Deb Kummer (pictured left), a degree in engineering from Michigan Technological University, who during the summer continues working in the engineering field. But you can tell she combines her degree with her love for working with and teaching students. Equally important, encouraging them to look down the road to what they will do and where they will go to college or trade school. 

I digress from the community-school partnership for just a moment as I am still captivated by one of the requirements she has in the class. She has each student write what they want to learn and where they want to go to school. As these are seniors expecting to graduate in the coming year she has them each take time to start the application process, online and in class, for the college they want to attend.

The new equipment provided by the partnership includes 6 lab stations with two more on the way, a 3-D printer, a laser wood cutter, tools for each workstation, soldering irons at each station, and 4 Dobot robots that offer leading all-perceptual robotics solutions for education as well as active use in manufacturing.

Additional support comes with the donation of 6 laptop computers, one for each workstation, including the platform provided by SolidWorks to empower students to learn about design, engineering, and creativity.

With windows lining the classroom and the hall with passing students the lab is now a focal point for students looking in and wondering, then asking what is going on that looks interesting and fun. The world is opening up in so many ways, for the students at the Lab Stations, for the students walking by allowing their curiosity to come to the forefront as they see a new world of possibilities.

Chuck Dardas, President of AlphaUSA, aimed to provide students with the tools to benefit their learning, which will open up the desire for a career and excitement enough to pursue the applications of what they learn in the world after school.

Clarenceville students are benefiting from a community partnership. The engineering lab is aiming to be the best. Who benefits? The students learning. The companies that will be hiring the students.

We all are better for it.