$25,000 in funding will help district to create its own fabrication laboratory
The Elkhorn Area School District is one of 25 districts in the state to be awarded a Wisconsin’s Fabrication Laboratories Grant. The School District will receive $25,000 for its high school Fab Lab.
Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation recently announced the first recipients of the Wisconsin’s Fabrication Laboratories Grant Program. According to a press release from the governor’s office, the investment has the ability to fund new fabrication laboratory facilities, providing Wisconsin’s children with valuable job training and bringing them into the 21st Century’s global economy.
“The Elkhorn Area School District is so appreciative, thankful, and honored to receive this grant that will support our continued development of ensuring our students are career-ready,” Elkhorn Area High School Principal Chris Trottier said.
Fab Lab funding, according to the release, gives Wisconsin students hands-on experience, allowing them to put into practice concepts they have learned in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses.
The release said Fab Labs have the potential to benefit individual students, school districts and Wisconsin’s economy as a whole. For more information, visit inwisconsin.com/fablabs.
“Guaranteeing our students have the skills necessary to compete in our rapidly-growing, technology-driven world is critical to our economy,” Walker said.
“Fab Labs provide hands-on learning to the next generation of workers to provide our students with the skills they need to obtain good-paying jobs. This ensures everyone who wants a job in Wisconsin can find a job.”
About the grant program
In the 2015-17 biennial budget, Walker implemented the Fab Labs Grant Program, making $500,000 available to school districts through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. In response to an overwhelming number of applications, WEDC was able to leverage the flexibility of its program funding to move an additional $101,000 to the initiative, allowing awards up to $25,000 for 25 school districts.
WEDC’s Fab Labs Grant Program requires matching funds from each school district and is designed to prepare students for manufacturing jobs in the future. In addition, the awards support the purchase of Fab Lab equipment for instructional and educational purposes by elementary, middle, junior, or high school students.
WEDC received 90 applications representing more than $2 million in funding requests. All applications were competitively evaluated based on criteria that included evidence of long-range of planning, curriculum, partnerships, and financial need. The review committee consisted of experts from the Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Technical College System, and UW-Stout along with two WEDC team members.
Fab Labs have the potential to benefit individual students, school districts, and Wisconsin’s economy as a whole.
For more information, visit www.inwisconsin.com/fablabs.
