Red Bank Middle School
Lab description
Grade Levels:
6-8
At Red Bank Middle School, the VW eLab hums with creativity. This fabrication studio invites students to dream up ideas and bring them to life with tools like 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters and woodshop equipment. Guided by the design process, middle schoolers learn to collaborate, iterate and apply STEM concepts while tackling authentic challenges for their school and community.
VW eLab Specialist
Joshua Edens
Joshua Edens is a U.S. Army National Guard veteran and former Blackhawk mechanic who leads the Red Bank eLab. With degrees from Ohio State and Trevecca and seven years of coaching experience, he channels problem solving and leadership into the classroom. Joshua loves empowering students to design, build and innovate using state‑of‑the‑art fabrication tools.
Lab Impact
Since the VW eLab opened, learning has become hands on, collaborative and purposeful. Students aren’t just absorbing information; they’re inventors, engineers and community advocates who use design thinking to identify needs and turn ideas into reality. Sixth graders interview teachers and design organizational tools and laser cut signage that improve classrooms. Science comes alive when students build solar ovens tied to energy standards and the novel Touching Spirit Bear, testing renewable energy outdoors. At the eLab showcase, students propose an ADA‑compliant ramp and walkway connecting the middle and high schools. They research regulations, use geometry and measurement to model a solution and 3D‑print scale components to help school leaders visualize the plan. The eLab also supports a student‑run microbusiness. Young entrepreneurs design and fabricate custom keychains, trophies, plaques, shirts and decals for faculty, local nonprofits and district events. They learn business skills and raise funds for field trips. Community nights invite families to experience the lab firsthand, building solar lanterns and laser‑cut ornaments while students serve as instructors. Teachers connect lab work with English, math and social studies so that writing, data analysis and history become part of the creative process. Projects like these show how Red Bank students use creativity and STEM skills to shape their school and community and how the lab fosters confidence, leadership and real‑world problem solving that will serve them long after middle school.
Project Highlights
Recent projects reflect the breadth of authentic challenges tackled in the eLab. Students partner with the area superintendent to design and mass‑produce more than one hundred custom acrylic trophies for the annual Rocky Awards. They meet with clients, prototype designs, schedule machine time, run the laser cutter and present finished awards at a public ceremony, gaining experience in client communication, quality control and production at scale. A class of students with multiple disabilities collaborates with administrators and art students to create a laser‑cut welcome sign and tactile menus for the café, fostering inclusion and belonging. To support literacy instruction, teams design and laser‑cut bookmarks, bookends and shelf labels featuring geometric patterns and motivational quotes. History students explore the evolution of digital communication by 3D‑printing and laser‑cutting timelines of the Internet, making an abstract concept tangible and inspiring discussions about equity in access. Engineering teams design and test small bridges and ramps to improve access between the middle and high schools. The microbusiness produces personalized keychains, holiday ornaments and graduation gifts for classmates and teachers. Students also design trophies and tags for community robotics tournaments, provide vinyl decals for local businesses and create signage for school events. Students merge art, math and science; they 3D‑print fraction tiles and stencils, build solar ovens and wind turbines and host pop‑up shops at games that teach marketing. Eighth graders model accessible walkways with the high school and craft plaques and signs for nonprofits, applying their talents to real needs and learning to empathize with users. Through these varied projects, they develop empathy, creativity and technical skills while seeing how their designs impact real people, and they prove that middle schoolers can act as professionals when given the tools and trust to succeed.
