Best-sellers and classics for young readers line the shelves inside the gleaming 45-foot St. Vrain Valley School District mobile Innovation Lab, which began its summer book tour Tuesday at Lyons Middle/High School.
The lab usually travels through the district, offering cutting-edge technology classes and exhibits for students and community members. This summer, the lab drew a new assignment to boost reading among students.
Mobile Lab Coordinator Colin Rickman is sure books will soon fly off the lab’s shelves once word gets out about the page-turning fare being offered through the summer.
“We’ve got some great contemporary works here and lots of great reads for just about every age level,” Rickman said.
The rolling lab offers old-school stories including “Old Yeller” to the contemporary “Hunger Games” series. Also lining the shelves are “The Girl With A Mind For Math,” “Titanic Young Survivors,” “The Skin I’m In” and “Un sol de tortilla.”
As many as 3,000 volumes are available at the Innovation Lab and all are free to students in the St. Vrain Valley School District, Rickman said.
“We want to encourage reading and we hope to reach as many potential young readers as we can,” he said. The books were purchased through $10,000 in grants and donations from industry and community partners, he said.
Shelby Seyvold, a 17-year-old senior at Longmont High School, is impressed with the diverse offerings in the Innovation Lab.
“I like that there are books in Spanish and I like there are quite a few popular titles,” said Seyvold, who volunteers to help out at the Innovation Lab during the summer.
Readers who take a book are encouraged to make a video book review, write an alternative ending or do something else creative, Rickman said. The best creations will be entered to win a Sphero Bolt, an advanced coding robot ball. More information about submissions and how to enter the drawing is available here.
During the school year, the Innovation Lab travels to schools and community events to showcase student learning.
The lab pilots new curriculum and technologies emphasizing virtual reality, robotics, design thinking and aeronautics, as well as STEM education, according to the district.
The lab is funded entirely through donations from industry and community partners, Rickman said.
This summer the lab became a bookstore to introduce kids and young adults to the fantastic world of the written word, he said.
“It’s among many things this lab can do to encourage learning,” Rickman said.
Few visited the lab during its stop in Lyons on Tuesday but Rickman is not discouraged. He hopes as word gets out about the lab, eager readers will show up in droves.
“And we will be there to offer them a good read,” he said.
The Innovation Lab book tour is open from 9 a.m. to noon. The rest of the stops are:
- July 10 — Thunder Valley K-8. 600 Fifth St., Frederick
-
July 14 — Longmont Estates Elementary, 1601 Northwestern Road
-
July 16 — Sunset Middle School, 1300 S. Sunset St., Longmont
-
July 21 — Columbine Elementary, 111 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont
-
July 28 — Mead High School, 12750 County Road 7
-
July 30 — Erie Middle School, 650 Main St.
-
Aug. 4 — Stapp Interstate Toyota, 8019 Raspberry Way, Frederick
Correction: The Innovation Lab is 45 feet not 14 feet.
