DRACUT — On Thursday afternoon, the second-floor library of the Richardson Middle School sounded like the office of a Silicon Valley start-up.
Teams huddled around tables, whispering, and shouting out ideas and taking turns piecing together aerodynamic blades. Sixth-graders ran power drills under the supervision of their teacher, whose instructions included phrases like “failure means progress,” “specifications the contractor requested,” and “problem solve if you are unsure what to do.”
The students, in what is known as the Maker Space, aren’t designing apps and disruptive technologies — yet. But they are building roller coasters and wind turbines. And soon, with the help of an MIT scientist, they will also be genetically modifying cells.
“It’s a place where kids tinker, they build, they design, they create, and they discover,” said Principal Maria…
