When the building served as an all-male, residential military academy, the room was a large dormitory. More recently, the room called Dorm 5 was used for storage by Linton Hall School in Bristow, now a pre-K through eighth grade school founded by the Benedictine Sisters of Virginia. These days, what was described as a dark, creepy, cluttered space has been transformed into an airy, sun-filled STEM lab.
Liz Poole, head of school, opened the May 3 ribbon cutting ceremony with a prayer, then thanked the gathered donors — members of the Apesa family, the Pappalardo family and Cub Scout Troop 1922. Benedictine Sister Joanna Burley, prioress, cut the red ribbon with oversized scissors. The lab doors were opened, revealing a large room filled with a variety of bright blue, orange and pale green chairs and tables, and locker-lined walls brimming with supplies of every kind.
Jamie McNealy, the upper school science and STEM teacher, believes the space and the hands-on work the students do there will mold them into creative problem solvers. “We want (the lab) to be this big, collaborative, beautiful, inspirational legacy,” she said. “I’m very excited as we move to this next stage of our STEM programming here.” STEM stands for science, technology engineering and math.
In one corner of the room, two fifth grade winners of the school’s annual Invention Convention showed off their projects — a ketchup bottle that opens from both ends and a hydraulic claw attached to a robotic vacuum that picks up toys left on the ground and moves them out of the vacuum’s path. At the other end of the lab, seventh graders worked to get a robot through an obstacle course.
The students eagerly shared their excitement over the room’s transformation, which cost $40,000 for the renovations and new furniture. Seventh grader Kate Heflin said she loved seeing a scary storage room that no one wanted to visit become a beautiful STEM lab that everyone wants to be in.
“(Being in the STEM lab) is so much different from the normal classroom setting where you get a textbook or you take notes and then you take the test,” she said. “Not only is it an extra opportunity to learn, it’s also an opportunity to have fun with your friends while learning.”
