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Swampscott media specialists describe hands-on projects, Makey Makey lessons in new innovation lab
Summary
Priscilla King, media specialist, Swampscott Public Schools, and Lisonbee Leconte, media specialist, Swampscott Public Schools, presented the district's year-one Innovation Lab program at the School Committee's June 12 meeting, describing circuitry lessons, Makey Makey projects and plans to expand the curriculum under a CSengage grant.
Priscilla King, media specialist, Swampscott Public Schools, and Lisonbee Leconte, media specialist, Swampscott Public Schools, presented the district's year-one Innovation Lab program at the School Committee's regular meeting on June 12.
King said the lab provided students with hands-on practice in digital learning and computer science. "It's been amazing to see our students thrive in the innovation lab," she told the committee, and described lessons that introduced circuitry, conductivity and creative projects using Makey Makey invention kits.
The presentation said 36 classes from the elementary school participated and that each class had four 30-minute Innovation Lab sessions this year. Early lessons used energy sticks to test conductors; students later built simple circuits with batteries and bulbs (younger students used Play-Doh to complete circuits and older students created light-up greeting cards using copper tape). King and Leconte described successive lessons in which students used Makey Makey boards to turn Play-Doh and copper-tape keys into game controls and musical pianos.
Leconte tied the lab work to academic standards, saying the Innovation Lab activities were integrated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) science and technology/engineering framework: "In each grade we pulled key learning standards from DESE and students built digital pages and Scratch programs to show understanding," she said. The presenters said younger grades focused on animal needs and habitats, while upper grades addressed life cycles and environmental topics.
Program materials came from multiple sources, the presenters said: DonorsChoose fundraising, an Amazon wishlist, school purchases and internal tech-team support. King noted the district is part of a CSengage grant (since 2024) that covers professional development for kindergarten-through-high-school technology teachers; Leconte said the grant will pay for summer training and allow the district to expand innovation lessons and add Dash robots for physical computing.
School committee members and administrators praised the teachers and students. One committee member said she had toured the lab and called the photos and video shown at the meeting "not stock photos '1 they are our kids," praising the teachers' work to build the program with modest funds.
The presentation closed with a student video excerpt the presenters said showed common themes: students appreciated the freedom to create, the team work, and the tactile materials that made abstract concepts tangible. The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; members asked follow-up questions about curriculum and staffing.
Looking ahead, the presenters said the district would continue the CSengage curriculum, expand lessons tied to DESE standards, and add Dash robots to bring more physical computing to the Innovation Lab.
