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Tinkering and some tubs have netted the Regina Catholic School Division $30,000 US in prize money and a semi-finalist nod in an international teaching competition.
The school division earned the spot in the Follet Challenge, thanks to its tinkering tubs teaching technique.
“(They’re) bins. The bins are filled with different resources, like books and hands-on materials,” said the division’s co-ordinator, Sherry Chase. “Each tub has a different focus. One would be on computer and coding; one is on robotics. Another one is on architecture and design.”
There are age-specific tubs for each focus area, for grades 1 to 8.
Follet is a school supply company based out of Illinois that runs the annual Follet Challenge, open to schools in the U.S., Canada and Australia. The winner of this year’s competition will get $60,000 US.
“It’s really hands-on and really promoting that critical thinking that we’re hoping that students will develop,” Chase said of the tinker tubs.
The goal, she said, is to teach students “perseverance and taking a risk, preparing them for careers that don’t even exist, which will develop those skills to help them be successful in the workforce.”
Grade 7 student Deacon Bigstone at St. Peter’s Elementary School has used the tinker tubs to create an electronic version of the game Simon Says with nothing but some Playdough, wires and a few alligator clips.
“(It’s) being connected from the computer, via USB,” he said. “It just lights up.”
Bigstone said his goal is to become a software developer, a role he said will leave him in his element.
