Students at Oakdale-Bohemia and Ronkonkoma middle schools recently explored new additions to their makerspace programs in an effort to further enhance their STEM-related learning experiences.

Both district middle schools recently started to tinker with Ozobot starter packs, which are tiny programmable robots serving as an early introduction to the fundamentals of engineering and computer programming. Due to the interactive nature of the Ozobots, the computer clubs spent an entire meeting familiarizing themselves with them, and all seventh-grade math workshop students spent time in the library exploring and designing.

Additionally, the OBMS Makerspace was recently able to collaborate and bring their innovative designs to life utilizing a 3-D printer on loan from Eastern Suffolk BOCES.

“At both district middle schools, the makerspace vision was able to be expanded upon,” said Mairead McInnes, the library media specialist at OBMS. “During our district librarians’ meetings, we were constantly talking about how we can coordinate our programs and what direction we would like to see the makerspace go, and with the help of the district we were able to expand our vision.”