A robotics lab with two arenas for students to operate, build and test their robots. A rocket lab boasting a laser cutter that slices through polycarbonate like butter. Workshops with every tool an engineer-in-the-making could ever need. With the recent addition of Carroll ISD’s STEAM Center, students now have everything they need under one roof.
“This facility as a whole has been transformative for our program,” robotics instructor Leah Schwedler says. “We always say that we moved into the mansion, so to speak.”
Part of a $208 million bond package approved by voters back in 2017, the Carroll ISD STEAM Center is a 25,000-square-foot facility that brings all of its science, technology, engineering and math courses together under one collaborative wing at Carroll High School. With the former band hall previously occupying the space before renovation began last year, assistant superintendent of operations Matt Miller says the facility was a perfect fit for the new STEAM Center.
“The space already provided a lot of high-volume, big rooms, so it was simple to design and open it up for robotics, rockets and engineering to allow them to spread out a little bit,” Matt says. “The biggest challenge is how do you marry all of that — who do you put where while keeping it collaborative.”
Kim Goodman, the career and technical education department chair, saw the space while it was being developed and says it was exciting to see how much it changed in just under a year.
“Walking back into it after all of the construction was done was pretty fascinating — how they were able to reconstruct those walls, move things around and open up the space in places that were previously closed off before,” Kim says. “It was amazing to see how much they were able to do with all of that reconfiguration.”
The first thing visitors will notice upon entering the STEAM facility is the robotics area, which has two arenas dedicated to testing and operating robots and four workshop benches where students could build their mechanisms. Leah says those performance arenas have made a big difference, allowing the Dragons to host league events on campus.
“When we were at the senior high, we would have to carry everything down to the cafeteria, set up, take things down and store them every time we would want to have a competition or a scrimmage,” Leah says. “In the STEAM Center, we’re able to just keep those fields up and host competitions. It makes it so much easier.”
A short distance ahead, two 18-foot-tall classrooms house the center’s engineering and rocket courses. Each classroom is equipped with cutting-edge tools, from industrial-grade bench drills and buzz saws to computerized laser cutters and engravers.
“That laser machine has been a real lifesaver as far as cutting polycarbonate for robots and rocket parts,” senior Tucker Johnson says. “It can cut any design that you need.”
Before the STEAM Center was built, students and their rockets were spread out across multiple classrooms, labs and even outdoors at Carroll Senior High School. But thanks to the STEAM Center, everything is much more centralized, and students have room to move around and work on their rockets.
“It used to be hard to have students working on 15 rockets at a time in class,” instructor Rachel Mahlow says. “This year, it isn’t difficult at all to have 30 rockets being built at a time. Having that space gives the kids the freedom to work much more efficiently.”
Down the hall, there are six computer labs where students can work on designing and coding their projects. Next door is the 3D printing room complete with 10 machines that can produce more than enough parts to keep STEAM students happy. Plus, two breakout conference rooms with Promethean Smart Boards are available for students to review designs and give presentations.
“You have all of the tools and knowledge necessary to create something great through rockets, robotics and coding,” Tucker says. “Creativity isn’t limited here.”
Since moving into the new facility last fall, Leah says she’s already seen the impact the STEAM Center has had on robotics. In years past, the program has sent three teams to the VEX Robotics World Championships, which regularly draws over 3,000 teams from 36 nations. This year, they sent eight teams to the competition, with five of them going for the first time.
“That’s the most of any organization in the world,” Leah says. “Four teams even made it to the elimination rounds, which is practically unheard of.”
But Rachel’s favorite thing about the STEAM Center is how it brought all of the different wings of science, engineering and technology together.
“The biggest issue we had with growing our program in the past was that everything felt so separate,” Rachel says. “That’s not the case anymore. Every single program is now in the same area, so kids are able to be more involved and see what’s going on between all of our different programs. Instead of us telling the students what rockets or robotics is like, they now get to see it for themselves and decide what they want to pursue next year.”
Tucker has experienced the full potential of the STEAM Center firsthand. Between his involvement in rockets, robotics and computer science, Tucker has really seen all of the programs skyrocket since moving into the center.
“Each classroom really opens up to each other, which adds a lot of creativity, collaboration and cooperation between the different programs,” Tucker says. “The design makes it really clear that STEAM really all flows and connects together. Every classroom in this facility is just one working part of the whole machine that is STEAM.”
And even more exciting developments are on the horizon. Thanks to all of the tools and resources available, Kim says new courses like welding and cybersecurity will be added this school year.
“We’re going to see a lot more growth now that we have the space for the whole picture,” Kim says. “You can really see the exciting new directions that STEAM is moving into.”