Steck Elementary spotlights Sam Labs STEM kits; district plans elementary rollout by 2027

Steck Elementary principal Elizabeth Pullman and teachers Danielle Batchelder and Nancy Pfister presented a five‑minute spotlight on Sam Labs classroom kits on Feb. 24, describing how the kits introduce coding and hands‑on STEM to students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Pullman said the program began as a pilot in 2022 and is now in year three at Steck; the district plans full implementation across elementary buildings by 2027. Teachers described classroom examples—seasonal lantern projects using lights and motors, gingerbread house lighting with up to six lights per project, coding weather boards and a wind‑mill model tied to average seasonal temperatures—and said the kits encourage collaboration, design iteration and presentation skills. Pullman said Sam Labs activities have been integrated into science lessons (for example, second‑grade habitats) and multimodal, cross‑curricular projects.

Teachers noted internal professional development and peer coaching (the “Sam Sisters” teacher leaders) have helped scale the work in Steck; teachers displayed starter badges outside classrooms to indicate which teachers completed initial lessons. Pullman said students and teacher teams from the Sam Labs rollout have earned placements in national design competitions.

Ending: The presenters invited board members to visit Steck to see Sam Labs classrooms in action and encouraged the public to view supplementary examples via a provided Sam Labs link.