By Jennifer Lazzo
It’s full STEAM ahead for one area school: A new makerspace incorporating science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) just pulled in to J. F. Pattie Sr. Elementary School in Dumfries.
Principal Kirsten Fisher, now in her second year at Pattie, led the movement to incorporate more STEAM into the school’s curricula through implementing a makerspace – a multi-functional space designed to encourage students to design, experiment, build and invent through hands-on, creative and collaborative learning. “Project-based learning and makerspace help prepare our children for the necessary skills of the 21st century,” said Fisher.
Last year, she asked teachers and parents to visit two schools in Prince William County that incorporate STEAM into their programs via a makerspace. “Once we saw the excitement of the children, the creative…
