April 17, 2019, San Jose, CA: Country Lane Elementary School has been awarded an Innovation Grant through the Moreland Education Foundation (MEF) Small Grants Program to help open a STEAM Lab for students on their campus.  The purpose of the grant is to purchase furniture and materials to set up their “In-SPUR-ation Lab” for their student Colts.

Through a teacher-led STEAM committee, Country Lane has been planning their STEAM Lab design, curriculum, and roll-out to best meet the needs of their community.  As a kick-off, Country Lane hosted MobileEd, turning their Multi-Use Room into a STEAM museum earlier in the year, in which all classes came for a 50-minute block to participate in hands-on activities, including engineering and coding activities.  The grand opening for the In-SPUR-ation lab is being planned for May 6, 2019.

“We are excited to have a space for students to design, create, explore, and problem solve,” said Country Lane Principal Keri Billings.  “Allowing students time in the day to be innovators and utilize higher level thinking skills increases both the rigor and the ownership of their learning.”

All Moreland schools have created or are in the process of designing STEAM labs that support the culture and academic needs of their school.  From Makerspace rooms to Design-Thinking Labs, schools have integrated this integral focus into daily school instruction.

The MEF Innovation Grants program supports innovative and creative approaches to education in all areas of learning and student enrichment, including Project Based Learning, staff development, school climate enrichment, and parent education.  The goal for the MEF small grants program is to identify programs that once established successfully can be sustained and modeled by others in the Moreland School District.

To learn more or apply for a MEF Innovation grant, visit: https://www.mefhome.org/small-grants/