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Xenia, Ohio – Ohio’s new “Community Steam Academy” with a 10-million-dollar budget is set to renovate an old YMCA building on East Church Street. Restorations will begin after an initial open house this weekend prior to commencement of demolition.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) is more than just doing a project or teaching a lesson that incorporates one or more of the five aforementioned disciplines. STEAM is a project-based learning experience that incorporates all five of those content areas. You’re no longer studying for a test, but rather applying what you’ve learned to real-world issues in your community (local or global). To achieve a greater understanding of the world, a student must combine all of the core academic content into a single learning experience by integrating science, technological application, the design of engineering, the creative power of the arts, and universal logic into a single learning experience.
The new building will include a drone and robotics lab, a rock-climbing gym, a Makerspace, and an Esports arena. $4 million will be funneled towards renovations while the remaining $6 million is dedicated towards a 24,000 square foot expansion.
Founder Dr. Jeremy Ervin has stated that instead of individual classrooms, the school will be based on the “neighborhood system”. Educators have the ultimate decision as to how indoor spaces will be designed.
Officials of Community Steam Academy-Xenia said a premanufactured adaptable wall system will be used as whiteboards. The modular walls are tracked by software which allows teachers to construct new class sessions overnight. Developed by DIRTT, a Canada-based company, the wall system is durable and soundproof.
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CSA-Xenia is additionally partnering with Kettering-based esports compound Vyral in an effort to create the esports program at the school. PCs will support graphic design, 3D-modeling software, and animation.
Despite the common misconception that esports are merely an enhancement of video games, Ervin claims that esports is an, “equity game for those who don’t have a predisposition to normal athletics”. Ervin continues stating that skill building, teamwork, and the formation of an identity are still prominent elements throughout the world of esports.
Ninth graders will be exposed to differing STEAM pathways particularly drone operation and maintenance, graphic design, entrepreneurship, robotics, biotech, and the culinary arts. The school plans to enforce the notion that college is not necessary for success and that such avenues like the trades, hold a great amount of respect and dignity.
Classes will begin in fall of 2022 with grades 6-10. Similarly, to Dayton Regional Stem School and Global Impact STEM School in Springfield, Ohio, the CSA-Xenia is a tuition-free public school. Any student in the state is eligible to attend.
Within the next few years, the school plans to expand the curriculum to host grades 11-12 and then eventually grades K-5. In the near future, an expected $6 million budget is anticipated in renovating the former East High School building on Market Street into a CSA-Xenia school for grades K-5.
Over the span of the next four years, CSA-Xenia hopes to reach a total student enrollment of 1,200.
The last open house prior to demolition day is tomorrow Saturday from 9:30am to 11am and then later at 5:30pm to 7pm.
