With real-world problem solving skills and emerging tech, middle schoolers prepare for the future

This spring at Vista Academy in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, middle school students tackled a complicated problem: Thinking like scientists and engineers, they were asked to solve the issue of underwater pollution in the Pacific Ocean.

Working together first in pairs and then as a group, students programmed robots to forage for plastics and other garbage — a step towards solving a complex, here-and-now issue. Projects like these, which combine solutions-oriented thinking with emerging technology, are the types of challenges that Vista Academy students tackle in the Verizon Innovative Learning Lab program. The Lab program offers a tech-infused curriculum in custom-designed, state-of-the-art facilities at schools nationwide. The curriculum is designed to foster tech skills alongside real-world applications of the tech.

“The Verizon Innovative Learning Lab program exposes students to emerging technologies through project-based curriculum, created by our team at Arizona State University, to encourage students to explore real-world problem solving,” explains Gabriela Chacon, assistant director of the youth entrepreneurship team at Arizona State University’s J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute. “In the program, students create solutions for their communities by leveraging technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D modeling and printing, artificial intelligence and robotics, and social innovation and design thinking,” Chacon adds.

In the year since joining the program, Vista has already seen notable advancements in STEM education, inclusivity, and student performance. Students readily engage with the curriculum and tools they find in the Lab, educators say. “They’re happy to come to the lab, they’re happy to learn, they're excited to see what they’re going to learn next,” says Brookie Chandler, a Verizon Innovative Learning Lab Mentor at Vista Academy.

Seeing how engaged the students have become in the program, teachers around the school often reach out to Chandler for guidance. “Other teachers want that same type of engagement. They come to me and say, ‘Hey, what can we do with the Lab?'” Chandler says.

Chandler collaborates with her colleagues to develop plans based on their teaching, which has inspired her further. “Leading this Lab and collaborating with teachers makes me want more. I want more for other schools in New York City. I want all schools to have the technology and have an innovative learning lab,” Chandler says.

After all, Chandler is also seeing her students envision their futures differently after working in the Lab. “They’re engaging in exploring careers in STEM,” she says. “They're thriving, they're learning, they’re engaging in technology — they’re preparing themselves for the future.”

Verizon Innovative Learning is a key part of Citizen Verizon, the company’s responsible business plan to help move the world forward for all. As part of the plan, Verizon has an ambitious goal of providing 10 million youth with digital skills training by 2030. Visit CitizenVerizon.com to learn more about the company’s responsible business efforts. Educators can access free lessons, professional development, and immersive learning experiences to help bring new ways of learning into the classroom by visiting Verizon Innovative Learning HQ.