Hurley school science lab work continues

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley - The Hurley K-12 Science Lab may be ready a few months sooner than anticipated after an equipment supplier said that back orders are expected to arrive in December rather than the anticipated April 2022 delivery. 

The science furniture is scheduled to be shipped on Dec. 6, and should be installed over the winter break, said Kevin Genisot, school district administrator. The initial phase of the science lab should be ready for staff and students upon their return in January, he said.

"We understand the unique issues and extended timelines with just about anything being ordered and are always thrilled when timelines can be moved up," Genisot said. "We can't wait for the completion of the new science lab."

Nasi Construction LLC started work on the science lab soon after the 2020 school year concluded. The work involved converting computer lab rooms (418-A and 418-B) into the Art Science Discovery Lab that is adjacent to the existing physics lab. 

The new lab will house one side for general sciences such as biology and physics, and the other side will be for the computer sciences, coding and robotics. There are solar tubes from the roof that bring natural light into the room, with LED lighting in the tubes when sunlight is not sufficient. 

There are also windows on both sides of the lab that let people in the hallways observe what is happening inside the lab. The windows arrived just the night before the first day of school on Wednesday. 

David Vuorenmaa, the job superintendent on the science lab project for Nasi Construction, came in extra early to install the windows before the bell rang for first hour classes.

The goal of the past few weeks was to get heavy work completed to reduce the level of noise and dust once classes started, Vuorenmaa said. It was a bit of a rush but the crew was motivated to get the work done, he said.

"These guys have been working mega-overtime just to get to this point where there is no dust anymore," said Troy Puisto, the high school physics, chemistry and STEM teacher. "The past week, they cleaned all the surfaces in here several times."

Puisto said he will be in charge of laboratory activities for the elementary students. The teachers will bring their students to the science lab for experiments that supplement the classroom work.

"We're bringing them all over here and we're going to start really hitting the science at all levels, big time," Puisto said. "That is our goal."

Corey Chilson, high school biology and field biology teacher, said the science lab will change the way science is taught and allow collaboration between upper and lower grades. The lab is an environment that will immerse students in a scientific atmosphere that will inspire learning.

"We will have hydroponics and STEM," Chilson said. "We will have VR (virtual reality) goggles to be able to do any type of lab that is offered with over 300 programs for goggles."

The school science teachers were a little disappointed that supplier delays kept the lab from being ready by September, he said. But the teachers are excited to learn that the lab will open much sooner than anticipated.

Puisto said it would be great to have everything in the lab all at once, but the high price tag means that the first phase of the Art Science Discovery Lab concept is for basic items. As funding allows, the lab is designed to evolve and grow with new technology over time.

"It's piecemeal, but it will be cool to see it get sharper and sharper as we go forward," Puisto said. "We got a lot of help from the Hurley Education Foundation."

The Hurley Education Foundation provided an initial $225,000 for the lab construction and furniture. The donations started with $50,000 with a community investment program grant from Endridge Inc.