Brainerd High School
9-12
Our VW eLab gives students opportunities to design, create, and explore through learning experiences in the lab and across classrooms. Two dedicated VW eLab Specialists collaborate with teachers to connect hands-on projects to classroom learning, helping students build technical and essential skills as they test ideas, solve problems, and bring their designs to life.
Lab description
Grade Levels:
VW eLab Specialist
Ross Worley and Tyller Stevens
Ross Worley and Tyller Stevens serve as VW eLab Specialists at Brainerd High School, bringing complementary strengths to hands-on learning. Ross, a CTE Architecture & Construction teacher, carpenter, and retired Army engineer, draws on experience in engineering, CAD, manufacturing, and construction to help students turn ideas into real projects. Tyller, the school’s media specialist, creates opportunities for students to explore tools and technology through projects connected to their interests and academic learning. Together, they help students develop technical and essential skills as they design, create, test, and refine their ideas.
Impact
At Brainerd High School, the VW eLab is creating new connections between students’ curiosity, classroom learning, and opportunities to make something meaningful. VW eLab Specialists Ross Worley and Tyller Stevens are working together to make digital fabrication a visible, accessible part of everyday school life.
Inspired by the creative makerspace model at the Chattanooga Public Library, they help students and teachers discover possibilities through conversations and hands-on exploration. A student asks what a machine can do, and that question can spark a classroom project, a solution to a school need, or an idea the student had never imagined creating.
Teachers across content areas are beginning to connect VW eLab resources to their instruction, giving students opportunities to develop technical and essential skills as they design, collaborate, test, and revise. Through these growing connections, Brainerd is building a creative culture where students’ interests become starting points for purposeful learning.
Project Highlights
3D Printing for Everyday Solutions: Students identify everyday needs, consider dimensions and function, and create or modify digital models to test their ideas. Through printing, evaluating, and revising prototypes, they learn to use setbacks as information that helps them improve their designs.
Building School Pride with CNC: Students use the ShopBot CNC to create signs, displays, templates, and other projects for Brainerd High School. Along the way, they develop skills in digital design, measurement, material selection, safe machine setup, and finishing while contributing to their school community.
Small Buttons, Big Connections: Designing buttons for clubs, events, teams, and school-spirit activities gives students an approachable introduction to making. These projects connect creativity with students’ interests and offer a starting point for exploring more tools and possibilities in the VW eLab.