The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School will bring hands-on STEM opportunities to students with the addition of two mobile labs as part of PA Cyber’s Polytechnic program. The labs provide students all over the state the opportunity to experience the STEM-based maker movement, taking their designs from computer screens to robotic machines. Students and families will begin to see the first mobile lab at PA Cyber events this fall and the second one next year.
The Polytechnic mobile labs come equipped with 3D printers, laser and vinyl cutters, a ShopBot, and more so that students can develop their ideas from conception to fabrication. Once unloaded, each modern mobile lab is quickly set up by a trained instructor where it’s needed—at a classroom, gymnasium, cafeteria, or even outside. PA Cyber collaborated with the Carnegie Science Center to create the vehicles.
“By putting labs on wheels, PA Cyber makes high-quality, hands-on learning accessible to more students in more places and in more modern ways,” says CEO Brian Hayden of PA Cyber.
The PA Cyber Polytechnic programming aims to show students how to solve everyday problems using crucial skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Past projects have included making catapults, spin art machines, mini food pantries, bike racks, and sheds. Many student-built projects are donated to support Pennsylvania communities.
PA Cyber Polytechnic includes partnerships with several colleges and universities to provide critical STEM learning experiences, such as the Virtual Engineering Exploration Experience, an eight-day summer camp in which experts from more than a dozen colleges explain the various engineering professions. PA Cyber held its third VEEE program in summer 2021.
“At the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, maker thinking is in part a core aspect of the curriculum. The school aims to inspire future engineers, scientists, and technologists because as we know, the learning never stops,” says Hayden.
About PA Cyber
Serving students in kindergarten through 12th grade, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA Cyber) is one of the largest, most experienced, and most successful online public schools in the nation. PA Cyber’s online learning environments, personalized instruction methods, and choices of curricula connect Pennsylvania students and their families with state-certified and highly qualified teachers and rich academic content. Founded in 2000, PA Cyber is headquartered in Midland, Beaver County, and maintains a network of support offices throughout the state. As a public school, PA Cyber is open for enrollment by any school-age child residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and does not charge tuition to students or families.
