The groundbreaking ceremony taking place August 26, 2021 symbolizes the Antwerp Local School District’s commitment to progressive and innovative approaches to learning. The Antwerp Board of Education, administration and staff are committed to being responsive to the changing landscape of education and finding ways to most appropriately prepare our students. Teaching and learning has changed significantly in recent years. The need for memorization of facts, figures, and details, while very important, is secondary to the need for deep understanding, connection of ideas, problem-solving, and the ability to apply and transfer ideas to other areas. Learning expectations now involve higher levels of thinking, research, problem-solving, real-world application of learning, and critical thinking.
As a means of supporting these expectations and providing the space for progressive approaches to teaching and learning, the Antwerp Local School District is breaking gound today on a 1.5-million-dollar Innovation and Aquaponics Center. The Center (to be located in the current patio area of the school building) will provide an advanced state of the art, multi-purpose learning space for our student body. The high-tech facility will be the most advanced learning space in any public school in this part of the state. The Center will likewise serve as a hub for our STEM and STEAM initiatives preparing our young adults with the skills necessary to meet the employment needs of area businesses and to play a part in the growth of new business and jobs for our community and county.
The Center will have four main features:
Discovery Lab……….A space for elementary age students to interact with a variety of maker space tools, materials, and supplies and interact in creative and collaborative group projects, challenges, and problem-solving opportunities.
Fab Lab………………..A space for middle and high school age students to interact with robotics, 3D printers, Virtual Reality equipment, Zpace 3D models, laser printers, and business operation features such as product design, logos, computer art design, and advertisement.
Media Lab……………A space for students to develop or enhance skills associated with video/sound/photograph production and for staff, the opportunity to strengthen our award-winning journalism and broadcasting programs.
Aquaponics Lab……A space for students to learn and experiment with food production systems in a controlled environment utilizing the integration of two agricultural concepts…. aquaculture and hydroponics. The lab will be located in a “greenhouse structure” near the current patio area. The lab will be the perfect teaching tool for core STEM subjects such as math, biology, chemistry, and engineering and areas of study including economics, marketing, and nutrition. Students will have the opportunity to study fish, plants, and bacteria interacting in a living ecosystem. Students will also have the opportunity to perform water quality tests and measure growth rates in fish and plants and additionally, produce food items for consumption.
The cost of the Innovation and Aquaponics Center project will be entirely paid for through revenue the district has and will continue to receive from the wind turbine farm payments, state lottery funds, and savings received through the district solar array operations.
Construction is set to begin August 30,, 2021 with a completion date of April 28, 2022.
Project Architect: GarmannMiller Architects/Engineers Minster, Ohio
Project General Contractor: Mel Lanzer Construction Napoleon, Ohio
Partnerships: Discovery Education, Paulding County Economic Development, Entrust, Inc.
