New Partnership Brings ULRI’s Xplorlabs to Oklahoma Students
A new partnership between UL Research Institutes, Midwest Fire, and the Mid-Del School District in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has ignited innovative work benefiting eighth-grade STEM students.
The three organizations are building a community education program that brings fire service personnel and educators together in the classroom using ULRI’s free STEM education platform, Xplorlabs. Throughout the school year, teachers and fire service personnel will collaborate to teach students about fire dynamics, how to read a fire scene, and how to build a claim about a fire’s origin and cause — using the Fire Forensics pathway from Xplorlabs.
Earlier this month, fire service personnel and educators from three middle schools in Mid-Del Schools took part in a professional development workshop on teaching fire forensics, led by education experts and former teachers from ULRI’s Office of Research Experiences & Education.
“Xplorlabs is all about showing students that science and fire safety are all around us. In turn, they make safer decisions, and some even choose new education and career pathways,” said Becki Rowan, Xplorlabs education manager. “This new partnership in Midwest City is another example of how we can create a safer world one student at a time.”
The success of Xplorlabs’ community model can be seen in other parts of the country, including Georgia, where Xplorlabs has been implemented across four school districts in metro Atlanta.
“We are excited to see the impact of bringing fire forensics into our local middle schools in partnership with Mid-Del School District,” said Duane Helmberger, fire marshal and assistant chief for Midwest City Fire Department. “We have seen the positive results of programs like this in other cities. Together, fire departments and school districts are partnering to bring real-world safety education into classrooms — helping students, and their families, better understand the safety risks around them as well as how STEM is used in the fire service.”
Check out Xplorlabs.org and learn more about implementing the community model in your area
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