Students explore STEM with Legos in interactive learning day

Students at Ace Charter School got the opportunity to play around on a school day when the administration funded a day of learning with Play Well. 

The organization, which is focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning creates interactive learning experiences through play. 

"We use Legos as a medium and disguise learning as playing," said Play Well's, Joe Roberts. 

Students from kindergarten through 10th grade took part in Monday's learning day which asked students to build motorized cars from Legos. 

Play Well has been visiting schools for over 20 years and is located in 23 states, as well as Paris, France. It instructs over 10,000 students per year and routinely has more than 20,000 pieces of Lego in a classroom. 

"Children learn better when they're playing," Roberts said. "They not only learn more but they retain information longer when they play through learning." 

Ace is a charter school sponsored by the South Lane School District but funding for the visit from Play Well was generated in-house without the aid of grants. 

The school, which is humanities and language based said it had received more requests for STEM learning and reached out to Play Well.

Students normally attend the school on Tuesdays and spend the remainder of the school week at  home under the instruction of a parent or guardian. 

Linda Borntrager of Ace said the Play Well effort was in response to student needs. 

"It's exciting," she said. "It allows the students to have a hands-on learning opportunity and we're really excited."