ASMS Hosts Ribbon Cutting to Celebrate Grand Opening of a Remote Learning Center and Makerspace

Mobile, Ala. – The campus is being transformed at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science. A facility that began as a school storage building has been renovated to become a Remote Learning Center and Makerspace – one of the only innovation spaces on a school campus in the state of Alabama. The project was funded through a $350,000 appropriation from the state CARES Act as well as funding from the Daniel Foundation, J.L. Bedsole Foundation, Ben May Charitable Trust, and individual donors to ASMS. The school held a ribbon cutting ceremony on their West Campus with students, families, and stakeholders present to celebrate the occasion.

“The opening of this renovated facility speaks to the visionaries and supporters we have as part of our school community. We are grateful to have leaders who saw potential in this space and who fostered the vision to provide our students with a new place to discover, create, collaborate, and solve problems. We are most grateful to Governor Ivey and the Alabama legislature for valuing education so much that they invested in our school during a global pandemic,” says ASMS school president Dr. John Hoyle.

The school has remained committed to delivering high quality learning to students despite the challenges that educators face with COVID-19. ASMS has worked to accommodate students via in-person, mixed, and remote learning methods throughout the pandemic. However, at the core of the school’s success is the in-person, living-learning student experience. The Remote Learning Center can safely accommodate classes of socially distanced students in person, and it also provides upgraded technology for faculty to more effectively record, stream, and teach remotely as if they were in person. The classrooms represent a new, safer space for students to learn as they are designed with COVID-19 guidelines in mind.

In the long-term, the school plans to transform the facility into a Makerspace. A Makerspace is a collaborative workspace for creating, learning, exploring, and sharing. Such a learning environment can provide students with critical 21st century skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). ASMS has identified that students need empathy, problem-solving, flexible thinking, and collaborative skills in order to thrive in a creative economy. These are the types of skills students can develop in a well-designed school Makerspace.

“With the addition of the Remote Learning Center and Makerspace, we know that the students of ASMS will be equipped to lead the way. I can say from professional experience that the most successful individuals are those who are self-motivated, hungry to grow, and resourceful with the people and materials around them. This new space on the campus will prepare the students to do just that. We look forward to seeing how they innovate for the future of our state,” says the school’s Foundation Board Chairman, Mr. Tyrone Fenderson, Jr.

The ASMS robotics team and rocketry team will soon find their homes in the space with new equipment such as a 3D printer, CNC router, and laser cutter. Over time, the school aims to have students initiate and work on individual and group innovative projects of their choosing. From soldering, to tinkering, to building, to launching, students will have a space for self-motivated learning along with materials to embrace their own discovery-based interests.

“We now have an entire space dedicated for us to explore the intellectual curiosities we have stored in the back of our minds. I am positive that whatever it might be, each student will find a creative use to fill up the space with their niche, and I am already looking forward to seeing the variety of projects and breakthroughs the students will accomplish right here where we are standing. I know our student body will make this opportunity count,” says May Jung, SGA President and a senior from Prattville, AL.

Throughout the 2020 – 2021 school year, the ASMS school community has aimed to respond with resiliency and an unwavering commitment to their mission. The motivation for the renovation project was driven by keeping the future of the school at its forefront. ASMS senior Barclay Zislin from Gulf Shores, AL said it best: “What drives the ASMS community is a desire to deliver the best possible education – an education that helps foster the leaders of the future. We celebrate how this new space will not only help our students today, but it will also help with tomorrow.”

Those who wish to donate resources to the space or partner with the school on this initiative should reach out to ASMS Director of Development, Dr. Samantha Church (schurch@asms.net).

Visit this page to see the construction progress from the beginning: https://www.asms.net/giving/priorities

Thank you to our partners on this project: Zito Russell Architects, E.M. Dunaway General Contractors, Alabama Iron Works in Fairhope, State Budget Officer Doryan Carlton, and most importantly, Governor Kay Ivey.

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The Alabama School of Mathematics and Science is the state's only fully public and residential high school for sophomores, juniors, and seniors seeking advanced studies in math, science, computer science, and the humanities. ASMS is a research-focused learning community committed to innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and diversity with an aim to empower motivated Alabama students to improve their community, state, and nation. Tuition, room, and board are free. Learn more at asms.net