New Berlin West Middle / High School students have a cool, new space to invent, collaborate and be creative this school year.

Thanks to a commitment from the Education Foundation of New Berlin (EFNB), West has a new fab lab, a place where students can be innovative and turn an idea into a reality by using a variety of technical tools and materials through digital fabrication.

The lab will be available to students in all classes, including technology, arts, business, STEM and more. Moving forward, the vision is to open the fab lab to members of the entire New Berlin community to utilize the technology and help mentor or hold their own events.

The SDNB is partnering with Palmar Hamilton PHabLAB for the project, which cost approximately $150,000. Palmer Hamilton chose West as a beta site, allowing the district to receive an approximately 30 percent
discount on associated costs. Additionally, as a beta site, West’s fab lab will be showcased during the National EdSpaces Conference in Milwaukee in October.

“The partnership with Palmar Hamilton not only allows us to have a state-of-the-art fab lab at a reduced cost, it will allow us to showcase our students, staff and district on a national level next month,” said Dr. Kellie Sanders, the SDNB’s Chief Academic Officer. “Beyond that, we are extremely excited to create this amazing learning space, a space that we believe will spark entrepreneurship in our students, offer project-based and hands-on learning, and empower our teachers with new resources to teach students new skills.”

This is the first fundraising campaign for the EFNB, which is seeking investments from individuals, organizations and corporations to fund the lab’s construction and outfitting of equipment. The EFNB hopes to
cover the initial start-up and construction costs through its fundraising efforts; yearly ongoing costs associated with the fab lab will be covered in the SDNB’s annual teaching and learning budget.

“The Education Foundation was established with a mission of supporting above-and-beyond initiatives within the School District of New Berlin,” EFNB Executive Director Amanda Ferguson said. “This is a great project to launch our first fundraising campaign.”

Naming rights for the fab lab, the ideation classroom space within the lab and various work and equipment stations throughout the lab are available, as are other sponsorship opportunities. Depending on how well the fundraising goes, the EFNB could fund the construction of a fab lab at Eisenhower.

For additional information or to create a customized sponsor plan, contact Amanda Ferguson at [email protected] or visit efnb.org. The Education Foundation of New Berlin is a 501c3 organization. Donations and gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.