CCPS i-Labs: Changing the way students learn

1 day ago

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Updated: 2 hours ago

Students now have access to hands-on experiences spanning dozens of career areas.

Walk into one of Clark County Public Schools' new i-Labs and you might find a student checking blood pressure, another learning how to wire a circuit, and another styling hair.

Elsewhere, students may be racing robots they’ve built or learning to frame, plumb, roof, and read blueprints.

This isn't a career fair.

It's CCPS changing what learning looks like.

Across Baker Intermediate, Robert D. Campbell Junior High and the Cardinal Innovation Center, students now have access to hands-on experiences spanning dozens of career areas.

“Instead of wondering what they want to be when they grow up, students get to find out what interests them, what they’re good at, and what they could become,” said Superintendent Dustin Howard. “This initiative is 100 percent about providing kids vibrant learning opportunities every day.”

CCPS celebrated the district’s Paxton/Patterson i-Labs with ribbon cuttings this week at Baker, RDC, and CIC.

The i-Labs at Cardinal Innovation Center involve authentic skilled-trade experiences.

Districtwide Vision

Paxton/Patterson Senior Education Consultant Christy Rogers said Clark County Public Schools is leading the nation with its robust approach to i-Labs. “This will be a best practice site for the state of Kentucky, and districts will come from all over to see it,” Rogers said. “CCPS has a full-blown, top-of-the-line implementation because they Grow Greatness here in Clark County.”

Rogers said Clark County's implementation is notable not only because of its size, but because of its districtwide approach, which begins before students reach junior high.

"We were intentional in designing our i-Labs to provide a progression from career discovery to career exploration to career preparation," Superintendent Howard said.

Starting Early

At Baker Intermediate, fifth- and sixth-grade students are getting an early look at careers through traditional i-Lab modules as well as Career Discovery Labs.

Sixth grader Adalynn Nolan has already found an area that interests her.

“Working in the school lab has been a great experience because my goal is to have a career in the medical field and make a difference in people's lives,” she said. “I’m excited to keep learning and discovering which medical career is right for me.”

The district's investment creates a progression of career exploration.

Students spend time working through modules, solving problems and gaining experience in career areas that may eventually become part of their high school pathway or simply help shape their plans for the future.

Robert D. Campbell Junior High students have the chance to explore 18 career modules across three i-Labs—the most at one school in Kentucky—during their seventh- and eighth-grade experience.

“This level of exposure gives our eighth graders the real-world insight they need when selecting their high school career pathways as they prepare for their transition to GRC,” said Principal Tiffany Smith.

Eighth grader Emerson Shelton has already experienced several modules at RDC, including health science, child development, robotics, and food services.

“Instead of just reading about the career, you get to experience the career,” she said. “It helps us get a good idea of what we might want to do in high school or after.”

At the Cardinal Innovation Center, students can take that experience even further through construction-focused modules that include plumbing, electrical, HVAC, framing, roofing, blueprint reading and surveying.

More Than a Career

The experiences students gain in the i-Labs are intended to help them become capable, confident, and resilient adults.

We are connecting education directly to the community and its workforce needs.

“The teacher does not deliver step-by-step instruction,” said Rogers. “They will have a little productive struggle. They will have challenges. The students will truly collaborate as partners. These are all experiences that will prepare them for life.”

Superintendent Howard agrees: “We’re not just hoping that students find something they fall in love with and then do for their career. We're giving them skill sets that help them win at life.”

Built for Every Student

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the i-Labs is that they are not reserved for a select group of students. Every student will have the opportunity to participate.

As students move from Baker Intermediate to RDC and eventually into high school pathways, their experiences can build upon one another, giving them increasingly meaningful opportunities to explore their interests and prepare for their futures.

The ribbon cuttings celebrated the completion of the spaces, but for our students, the most important part is what happens next: stepping through the doors, picking up the tools, working with a partner, solving a problem and discovering something new about themselves.

“Through the Paxton/Patterson labs,” said Assistant Superintendent Kelly Fithen, “we are giving students something powerful: the opportunity to experience, discover and imagine.”