VENTURA : Middle School to Build High-Tech Lab
Balboa Middle School in Ventura will become the third in the city to build a new high-tech lab to teach students computer-aided design and other skills.
Four Rotary clubs in Ventura have contributed a combined $5,200 that, along with state and federal funds, will allow Balboa to complete a lab for its “Exploration in Technology” program.
Two other Ventura middle schools--DeAnza and Anacapa--already have technology labs. A fourth middle school, Cabrillo, is probably next in line in the district to receive funding for such a lab, officials said.
Designed to introduce young students to some of the latest uses of robotics, electronics and computers, the technology labs at Ventura’s middle schools are essentially an updated version of shop classes.
Instead of teaching students to build objects entirely by hand as in shop, students in technology labs use computers to design items ranging from model race cars to miniature wood bridges.
With some of the machinery in the labs, students are able to design computer programs that actually drive the power tools to build mallets or other small wood objects, Balboa Principal Hank Robertson said.
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