New STEAM Lab Opens at Mountain Meadows 21st Century Learning Academy
(Moorpark, California) January 25, 2024—With a pair of oversized scissors, Moorpark Unified Board President Robert Perez cut the wide-blue ribbon to signal the official opening of the new STEAM Lab at Mountain Meadows 21st Century Learning Academy in Moorpark.
Though the January 19 ribbon cutting brought the entire elementary school together for the Friday morning ceremony, Mountain Meadows Principal Teresa Johnson said the road to creating the STEAM Lab began last school year.
“It was last spring that we started talking about making this STEAM Lab a reality,” Johnson said. “Its opening is the culmination of months of hard work and dedication by our staff.”
The STEAM Lab, a renovated former classroom, brings to Mountain Meadows a dedicated space where TK-5 students can program robots, use a 3-D printer, engage in engineering, learn computer animation and explore their imagination with a makerspace.
It was an accomplishment, Johnson said, that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the school’s PTA, the Mountain Meadows staff, parent volunteers, the district’s Technology Department and, most especially, second grade teacher Melissa Stein.
“I wanted to put together a committee for STEAM learning to help create this space,” the principal said. “Melissa Stein really brought the vision to life. She designed the space, helped to choose technology and pulled together resources to provide grade-level STEAM lessons and activities for each piece of technology and the makerspace. She truly is a remarkable teacher.”
Stein said when she began conceptualizing the STEAM Lab, she knew it had to be a space that would accommodate students from TK to fifth grade.
“Everything in the lab is so open-ended that a kindergartner can make something super simple while a fifth grader can really build on an idea and create something very complex,” Stein said.
She said it was also important that the space be both educational and inviting for the students.
“It really makes a difference when the kids walk in and are inspired by a space,” Stein said of the colorful decorations and playful setting. “I wanted kids to want to be in there and see it as a place where they could build on their STEAM skills and learn computer coding or engineering or create something in the makerspace. There’s something for everyone in the room, and I’m excited about all the possibilities.”
Johnson said STEAM learning is for every student and that hands-on activities like those in the new lab inspire investigation, inquiry and discovery. Doing so sets the foundation, she said, for the critical thinking skills students need to succeed in school and beyond.
"The new STEAM Lab is a fantastic example of how MUSD is providing innovative spaces at our schools to really prepare the scientists, engineers and creative innovators of the future,” Superintendent Dr. Kelli Hays said. “I want to thank the Mountain Meadows school community for coming together to create this space that nurtures students’ passion for STEAM disciplines."
In the week following the ribbon cutting, more and more students have had the opportunity to explore the STEAM Lab and take part in the activities it offers. Students have already begun to work with robots in lessons that combine coding, art and computer programming.
Johnson said the STEAM Lab has become instantly popular across the school.
“I didn’t anticipate the level of the students’ excitement,” she said. “It’s been very inspiring how a dedicated teacher like Ms. Stein, with the help of our school and district community, created this fantastic learning environment. We’ve just begun with the STEAM Lab, and I’m truly excited about the future opportunities it brings.”
