STEAM Community Studio

STEAM Community Studio is an experiential learning and community improvement program for students of all levels to investigate and design new solutions to real-world problems facing their communities. Through research, design thinking and prototyping activities, elementary, secondary, and post-secondary students gain the exceptional ability to directly inform public policy discussions, support community members, municipalities, businesses, charitable and not-for-profit organizations.

How Community Studio works:

Public Call for Ideas - Individuals, business owners, municipalities, charitable organizations, and community groups are invited to submit persistent issues and challenges. We accept submissions ongoing and select six projects annually.

Matching Projects to Students - Once projects are selected, the STEAM team facilitates learning by connecting with various school board learning coordinators and teachers at all academic levels to partner students with relevant community impact projects.

Industry Expertise and Research - The STEAM team researches the issues at play and builds relationships with quality industry experts who then assist the students by providing them with insightful research considerations.

Prototyping Solutions - Once equipped with the knowledge needed, STEAM Centre works with the students to develop their ideas for prototyping possible solutions. For each project, up to $2000 is available to execute original, viable projects or prototypes to begin to address the issues involved.

Get Involved! If you have a class you would love to get involved, expertise to share or a problem to address, please get in touch with us. Submit your idea for consideration below!

Submit an Idea

2023-2024 Student Community Projects

2022-2023 Student Community Projects

Thank you to all the students and community partners who worked on prototyping solutions to help make Elgin County a better place to live work and play! Our year three projects are in the completion stages now.

2021-2022 Student Community Projects

Opening Doors to NextGen Careers - Students will design a campaign to build awareness for high school students to take a senior level math or science credit for the jobs of tomorrow and explore the misconceptions surrounding STEM courses versus career outcomes. Less than 50% of students currently graduate with a senior level math or science credit. The jobs of the future will be largely in STEAM centred careers (many that haven’t been invented yet). This project will work to inspire younger students to keep their options open by introducing them to all the possibilities and tools at their disposal for planning their future School partner: Western Community Engaged Learning (CEL) Science and the Community class Community partner: Helen Karahalios, 3M Canada.

Activating History: Preserving the Stories of Local Landmarks - How do we protect and preserve Elgin County's historic landmarks and bring their stories to life? Suggestion was to create an app, walking tour and/or historical booklet to further knowledge about the area. School partner: Western University, Scholars Electives course Community Partner: Atrus Fisher, Fanshawe student community submission participant, Gina Dewaele, Elgin County Archives, Megan Pickersgill, St Thomas Economic Development Corporation

Trailblazing: Welcoming Newcomers to our Trails - Creating welcoming spaces for newcomers in the form of multilingual trail signage. Students will learn to take into consideration the local demographics, the messaging and the types of engagement that would be successful in creating an inclusive and welcoming space. School partner: Western University Integrated Learning Community partner: YWCA Juliane Hundt Manager of Settlement Services, St Thomas Public Library.

Transit for Youth - Consider the barriers to preventing youth from using St Thomas public transit and design solutions. Explore if the barriers are level of comfort with routes, fare system, timing? Could available resources be redeployed to allow for better part time job access? Could a partnership be developed with Fanshawe for student passes to solve the significant housing challenge that students face? Could resources from the school boards be reallocated to public transit for high school students? Student partner: Young and Free Press Community Partner: Justin Lawrence, City Engineer

Providing nature a home - Increasing Elgin's Wetlands Help Elgin County raise awareness to reach the targeted provincial goal of a10% increase in wetland creation from its current 2%. Students will explore the importance of wetlands and share that knowledge with the public with hope to encourage more participation in the program. School partner: Western University CEL Environmental Health Promotion Class Community partners: Ron Casier, Elgin Stewardship Council, Betsy McClure, Kettle Creek Conservation Authority

Improving Active Transport in the Downtown Core - Creating functional systems to encourage active transport to the downtown core, including plentiful bike lock stations and or bike parking lots, safer pathways, and options for rest stations. Perhaps a membership could be bought that includes a card or app to allow for unlimited use of hydration stations and bike locks. Students will analyze all options for creating a welcoming and safe space for cyclists in the downtown core and surrounding areas. School partner: Oakridge Secondary School Grade 12 Business Leadership class (Mrs. Brule) Community partners: Katie Labrie, community submission participant; Andrew Buczkowski, President Railway City Cycling Club and Nathan Bokma, Manager of Development and Compliance for City of St Thomas.

2020-2021 Student Community Projects

All six projects for the 2020-21 have now completed. These project topics came as a result of a public application call, followed by consultation with individuals and groups to understand the scope of each challenge. The inaugural projects were:

Students from H.B. Beal Secondary School SHSM program, Fanshawe College and Western University including the Ivey Business School worked together to build a plan to help downtown businesses build stronger online connections during the pandemic. They offered local businesses the opportunity to learn how to use and maximize Instagram for connecting in new ways with their clientele and a chance to win an iGuide mapping system for their location. A #RailwayCitySocial event then engaged members of the public to then connect with local business via Instagram with the chance to win a St Thomas Downtown Development Board prize pack.

Creating a Virtual Marketplace to aid local business.

Students from Western University's Environmental Health Promotions program prototyped a dynamic plan to create a reuse centre at the the City of St Thomas' Recycling Centre in partnership with Habitat for Humanity St. Thomas Restore. The reuse proposal was accepted unanimously by City Councilors, and the project is scheduled for implementation in 2021. View the press release from the City of St. Thomas here and final project report here.

Reducing Waste; Finding reuse for items in a cluttered world.

Creating Welcoming Sensory Spaces. Students from Eagle Heights Elementary School's Excellerators group collaborated with Grade 12 students from St. Joseph's Catholic High School and the SHSM Manufacturing and Design students of Arthur Voaden Secondary School to create modular sensory wall, easle and table designs for the Wellkin Child & Youth Mental Wellness Centre.

Creating an Audio, Video Production Studio for Youth Skill Building. Visual Arts and Video and Design students from Oakridge Secondary School as part of their Secondary High School Majors Program (SHSM) worked together to design a creative space at the Ignite Youth Centre where every voice can be heard. The students researched audio- video equipment options for developing a portable podcast and video recording space.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the highest increase in house fires fatalities since 1998, due to more people working and staying at home. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of these victims are senior citizens. Seniors are among the most vulnerable with most fires occurring after caregivers leave between 4pm - 8am. The St. Thomas Fire Department offers assistance to those who need batteries checked and replaced, new detectors put in and even provides support through a smoke alarm loaner system, yet many seniors do not reach out to utilize these services. Students from Fanshawe College's Public Relations Program and McMaster University's Early Childhood Education program have come together with the goal to build a multi-lingual public educational campaign to help save lives. The final result is for multiple flyers and ads to be published, a billboard to be displayed onsite at the fire hall and a multi lingual web page where various languages are featured in downloadable flyers.

Smoke Detectors for Seniors.

Many in our society are growing more disconnected to nature. Grade 10 students in the Communication Technology class at Arthur Voaden explored ways using live nesting cams at the Jaffa Environmental Centre/ Springwater Forest to inspire people to develop an interest in nature and become stewards of the environment. The creation of infographics to advertise the importance of the Jaffa Centre and assisting with ideas for a YouTube channel focuses on the nest cam live video feed were part of the end results.

Connecting with Nature: Building empathy for living things and the wonders of life.

This multi-year project is generously funded by The Estate of Donna Bushell within Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation in conjunction with another anonymous community donor.