Volkswagen announces 8 more Hamilton County schools to receive science eLabs

Normal Park sixth-grader Abel Windemuller, right, shows a prosthetic tool developed in the Normal Park eLab to Orchard Knob students after an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School. Normal Park sixth-grader Abel Windemuller, right, shows a prosthetic tool developed in the Normal Park eLab to Orchard Knob students after an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School.

By Meghan Mangrum January 31, 2018 6 min read

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Volkswagen announces 8 more Hamilton County schools to receive science eLabs

Orchard Knob Middle School Principal Tiffany Earvin speaks during an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School.

Volkswagen Chattanooga representative Nicole Koesling speaks during an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School.

Chattanooga Public Education Foundation President Dan Challener speaks during an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School.

Chattanooga Public Education Foundation STEM Director of Innovative Learning Michael Stone speaks during an event announcing the addition of eight new VW eLabs in Hamilton County public schools at Orchard Knob Middle School on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 in Chattanooga, Tenn. The schools receiving eLabs are: Brown Middle School, Hixson Middle School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School, Soddy-Daisy Middle School, Brainerd High School and Chattanooga High School Center for Creative Arts and Hixson High School.

Can a go-kart run off solar power? Can a water filtration system be created that does not require electricity? Can a horse use a prosthetic leg?

Those aren’t questions being asked by professional engineers and scientists. They are questions that have been asked – and answered – in eight Volkswagen eLabs in Hamilton County Schools.

On Tuesday, Volkswagen, in partnership with the Public Education Foundation, Hamilton County Schools and the state, announced eight additional schools that will receive their own Volkswagen eLabs.

“[The labs] have changed how students learn,” said Dan Challener, president of the Public Education Foundation. “They have access to truly extraordinary teachers, some of the most advanced tools and technology anywhere in the world in our schools. … The students in these eight schools have spent the fall semester wrestling with fascinating, very real challenges.”

Students at the eight schools – Brainerd High School, Brown Middle School, Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts, Hixson Middle School, Hixson High School, Ooltewah Middle School, Orchard Knob Middle School and Soddy-Daisy Middle School – will have the same opportunities in their eLabs starting next year.