STEM

Silicon Valley High School Introduces STEM Lab, Program

• By Sri Ravipati
• 09/19/16

Santa Clara High School (SCHS) unveiled a new STEM lab for its students and the surrounding community to gain hands-on experience working with technology.

The new Fabrication (Fab) Lab, as it is called, was built in collaboration with the 49ers Foundation, Chevron and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. It seeks to equip students with hands-on experience “working with tools, machinery and technology used today in STEM-related industries and helps them develop the critical skills needed to prepare them to become inventors and innovators of the future,” according to a prepared statement. The Fab Lab features digital fabrication tools, such as 3D printers, vinyl cutters and milling machines.

"The Fab Lab at Santa Clara High School is a resource for inspiration for our future STEM leaders and the greater Santa Clara community," said John York, co-chairman of the 49ers Foundation, in a statement.

In addition, SCHS recently introduced its first cohort from the 49ers STEM Leadership Institute (SLI). Launched in 2014, the six-year program prepares students for STEM majors and careers through its rigorous college-preparatory curriculum. Like the Fab lab, SLI has a dedicated space “equipped with the resources needed to carry out extensive STEM-related projects,” including 3D printers, laser cutters, robotics kits, laptops and tablets. The first cohort included 60 seventh grade students from Cabrillo Middle School who entered SCHS this year. By the end of the sixth year, 360 students will have completed more than 300 hours of project-based, hands-on experiments and activities.

Further information about the SCHS Fabrication Lab is available on the 49ers site, while more information on the STEM Leadership Institute can be found on the SLI site.