James H. Boyd Intermediate School has recently been selected to receive a 2017 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant from The Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. The $5,000 grant will allow the school to begin building a Makerspace to enhance learning opportunities for students.

The foundation offers the grant each year to K-12 public schools across the nation to provide community support for basic educational needs. The grant application, submitted by teachers Liz Held and Krista Albrecht, was for their project idea, “If You Build it, They Will Come.” 

The project focuses on creating a space where students can learn through hands on activities and building. The mission of the makerspace will be to encourage curiosity, tinkering and learning, while inspiring students to invent new things, continually question how processes happen and how inventions can be improved. Ms. Albrecht and Ms. Held plan to purchase items such as Lego kits, tablets, a green screen studio, and storage containers for student projects to incorporate into the space.
 
“We were thrilled to learn that we won the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education Grant to begin creating a Makerspace at Boyd,” said Ms. Albrecht. “We are always looking for innovative ways to fund ideas for our students. Incorporating science and technology, and discovering ways to solve problems is so important. If this Makerspace at Boyd can help students become better thinkers, then we are on the right track!”