A space to empower and enrich students as they prepare for the future was unveiled Thursday evening at North Park Collegiate.
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“The Innovation Hub @ Grand Erie is more than just a physical space,” said Grand Erie director of education JoAnna Roberto, describing the project as a milestone for the school board. “It’s a bold space. It’s a place to be able to think, and to prepare students for the future as we look forward to excellence in innovation and research.”
Roberto said the Innovation Hub is a place where ideas come to life, where students from Grades 7 to 12 can explore cutting edge tools, challenge themselves critically and creatively, and collaborate with peers, educators, and community.
“We’re going to create opportunities for every student to feel that they belong, that they can achieve and that they have purpose in this space,” she noted. “It’s also a testament to the power of community. A place where educators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and families can come in to push their own boundaries in education.”
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Board chair Susan Gibson said the center is an investment in learning that provides future possibilities for students, staff, and the community in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) and research.
“It aligns with our multi-year strategic plan and our vision to learn, lead, and inspire,” she said.
The opening event included keynote presentations by Mark Daley, chief AI Officer at Western University on the transformative role of artificial intelligence in education, and educator Curtis Carmichael on exploring inclusive innovation.
Inside the Innovation Hub are work areas that include coding and robotics, digital microscopes, augmented and virtual reality.
“We’re going to have a 3D printing pathway that can start in Grade 7 and 8 with six modules; and an eight-week module in drone (applications),” explained STEAM teacher consultant Miriam LaPeare. “We also have a maker space creation area, so students can do construction projects, but the main focus is the engineering design process: coming up with a problem, finding a solution (by) solving it creatively, making a prototype, and testing it out.”
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Elliot Sim, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student at Edith Monture Elementary School with an interest in technology, toured the hub with his mother Kristen.
“I volunteer at a Grand Erie elementary school leading a coding club. We meet after school,” explained Kristen Sim, noting that AI is starting to become an advanced topic in traditional coding. “I’m interested to see how we can build that into our extracurricular.
“As a parent and an engineer myself, I’m very passionate about technology and I love to see my kids involved in technology. It’s really great to see that Grand Erie is investing in this way and making a space where classes can come and get really hands on with some of these neat, new technologies that are in place.”
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