Written story provided by ThirtyPR
As a new school year begins, students across Jonathan Alder Local Schools are settling into routines, meeting new teachers, and diving into fresh opportunities to learn. One of the most exciting of those opportunities can be found in a unique place where creativity, curiosity, and hands-on learning come together: the Amazon Think Big Space.
As educators, we’ve long known that two of the most important ingredients for learning breakthroughs are active engagement and helping kids learn to think for themselves. At Jonathan Alder, we’re proud to offer that formula in many settings, but the Think Big Space is one of our most powerful tools. It’s a custom-designed learning lab that sparks innovation and inspires students to explore science, technology, engineering, and math in new and meaningful ways.
What began in 2021 as a single innovation space at Jonathan Alder High School has grown to include additional labs at Canaan Middle School and Jonathan Alder Junior High School. The newest Think Big Space, located at the junior high, gives seventh and eighth grade students daily opportunities to research, discover, design, and create through immersive, hands-on experiences.
These spaces are among 20 Think Big Spaces in Central Ohio supported by Amazon, and we think it’s one of the coolest benefits to come to Jonathan Alder as home to a campus of Amazon Web Services data centers. Across all three spaces, we’re on track to surpass 40,000 total student experiences this year alone. Along the way, we’ve expanded programming to include community DIY Nights, Girls’ Tech Day, Exploration Day, and even Space Night.
At each Think Big Space, students might find themselves using cutting-edge technology or drawing on their own creativity for brainstorm inspiration, but they’re always encouraged to imagine new solutions. And they’ll almost certainly be collaborating with peers and adults, learning the value of relationships and networks in the world of Getting Stuff Done.
One day might feature a hands-on lab using Amazon services on a simulated or real-world challenge; on another, students might participate in coding a robot for a specific purpose, or other innovation challenges. Amazon often brings in industry leaders for guest talks and panel discussions, for students or for a community audience.
The Think Big Space undoubtedly provides pathways that can lead students to careers in cloud computing and related fields, with Amazon or elsewhere—and that’s a win for Amazon and for our students. And this type of experience is especially important with AI becoming a part of our daily lives, knowing our students are at the forefront of a technology revolution and learning the skills they will need right here in these spaces. But its first job is to provide an environment where creativity and discovery—the foundations of lasting learning—can blossom.
Being part of an Amazon data center community has yielded many benefits for our district. The annual Amazon Girls’ Tech Day, when hundreds of Central Ohio girls gather at COSI to learn about tech careers and be inspired by women leaders in tech, is just one fabulous example.
Here on our own campus, we’re energized by the new school year and the expanded opportunity to use our three Think Big Spaces to launch even more young minds into bright futures.