Amelia Earhart Elementary School builds makerspace with Spotlight Grant

Amelia Earhart Elementary School was awarded the Coachella Valley Spotlight Grant in December of 2018. Since then, they’ve built a makerspace in the library, intended to enhance the teacher and student learning experience.

With the $25,000 from the H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and additional funding from the district, the library was transformed. New educational games, interactive technology, large format displays, storage containers, and furniture, were all brought into the space.

“Some of the kids love just getting to explore with the legos, checking out the lego books, and getting to build and create and problem solve with each other. Others love the coding,” said teacher Jennifer Dean.

Assistant principal, Kirsten Wright, said all the materials are things that teachers would want in their classroom, but the funding isn’t there to make purchases for everyone. She said having one space where students and teachers can visit on a daily basis to engage with the technology creates an opportunity to further progress on exploration and inquiry initiatives.