Every student at Oakbrook Elementary in Ladson is expected to pass through a forest-themed classroom filled with 3D printers, coding robots and a hydroponic garden, after the school opened a new STEAM Innovation Lab funded by a $240,000 investment from Google. The lab is designed to give kids hands-on exposure to science, technology, engineering, arts and math through planned classroom rotations, rather than as an occasional add-on.
According to WCIV, the lab aims to introduce students to STEAM subjects through hands-on experiences and early career exploration, with Dorchester School District Two framing the space as a way to connect classroom concepts to real-world applications and future careers. The lab will serve every student at Oakbrook Elementary through those scheduled rotations, rather than being limited to a single grade or elective group.
The space itself leans heavily into its forest theme, featuring life-sized animal graphics, indoor turf, custom furniture, tree-painted walls, a sky-painted ceiling and three-dimensional trees, the station reports. Inside that setting, students can explore a storywell equipped with a laser projector and integrated sound, along with an ActiveFloor projection-based space that combines physical movement with learning activities.
Hands-On Tools From Hydroponics to Robotics
The lab also includes custom tactile activity boards built around circuits, gravity and gears, giving students a physical way to engage with engineering concepts. A Flex Farm hydroponic gardening system lets students grow plants indoors, while 3D-printing activities, LEGO Education kits and coding robots round out the space's focus on robotics and engineering skills.
Ralph Hayes, executive director of the DDTwo Educational Foundation, said the lab is an opportunity to bring the community together around a shared vision for education and help students develop skills and explore interests. The lab was developed through a collaboration between the DDTwo Educational Foundation, the district superintendent and district leadership, per the station's report.
Chad Daugherty, identified in the WCIV report as superintendent, said Google's investment was historic and that the lab will help students explore, create, problem-solve and discover their interests. A separate report from live5news.com identifies Dr. Shane Robbins as Dorchester School District Two's superintendent, a discrepancy that could not be resolved from available reporting.
Evaluation Partnership Could Shape Future Expansion
Charleston Southern University's graduate school will provide third-party program design support and evaluation for the lab, the same WCIV report notes. That evaluation partnership aims to establish a framework for measuring the lab's impact on student learning and engagement, and it may inform continued growth and potential replication at other schools.
The Oakbrook lab follows a pattern of outside funding flowing into Dorchester Two's STEAM programs. Google previously awarded the district a $25,000 grant to enhance its STEM offerings, with district officials saying at the time that the funds would help give students hands-on experience and access to technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence, according to live5news.com. Officials described the approach as a way to pilot creative classroom initiatives and, if successful, build them into the following year's budget.
Separately, Dorchester County School District Two schools were awarded nearly $64,000 in grants for STEAM programs, funded by the Bosch Community Fund and secured by the Dorchester Two Educational Foundation, as reported by counton2.com. The grants funded STEAM programs at district schools.
No measured outcomes from the new Oakbrook lab have been reported yet, since the evaluation framework with Charleston Southern University is still described as planned rather than underway. For now, the forest-themed classroom stands as the district's most visible bet yet on hands-on STEAM learning reaching every student who walks through its doors.
