A new elective, Innovation and Design, will kick off at the beginning of next school year. If students are interested in the STEM field, the Innovation and Design courses will provide deeper learning and hands-on experience.

  “The new wing and classes will allow students who are interested to learn about design and how to create solutions to problems. No doubt developing those skills will lead to a variety of great opportunities,” Physics teacher and advisor of the STEM academic community Megan Bartley said.

  Innovation and Design’s curriculum can help students in many different career paths they may have in their future.

  “This pertains to students who are interested in engineering, but in the future, many jobs outside of engineering will indeed employ the technology in our new wing to do their work,” Bartley said.

  The class has three levels. Students in the STEM 9 or 10 cohorts are able to skip the first level because of the exposure they are getting in their STEM class.

  “Level 1 is to learn the basics of how to use those tools. Level 2 can be a year long, and you will learn more about those tools, but you get to design your own projects. Level 3 would also be a year long, and you can do larger research projects or construction like projects if you want to. And then depending on how much work you do there you can also choose to apply for the AP research credit, where you do Innovation and Design level 3,” Head Principal Joe Esper said.

  The new elective will be replacing 11 similar courses that will no longer be available.

  “The Innovation and Design classes are gonna be like our greatest hits of a lot of the technology and engineering skills that are spread out across a lot of different courses before. So it’s 3D printing and laser cutting, CAD, design software and robotics,” Esper said.

  Being in the Innovation and Design course can help with skills used regularly in the STEM field.

  “I think that it would be very enriching to other STEM related classes because you are coming into those with a lot more knowledge that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to,” sophomore in STEM 10 and robotics Sy Engelsman said.

  Participating in the Innovation and Design course will assist in other classes and even extracurriculars that students may be a part of.

  “I think that it is a really good thing for the school to be offering because the most condensed form of those skills, you need for classes like robotics, so having the opportunity to do that within school hours is really valuable for students,” Engelsman said.

  The Innovation and Design elective is a great choice for anyone wanting to gain important skills that can help in many potential future careers.

  “I would love to see more students learning to use CAD, the laser cutter and 3D printers at West. In my experience, this kind of learning is super fun and can expose students to skills they have not yet been able to explore,” Bartley said.