STEAM Community Studio is an experiential learning and community innovation program for students of all levels to investigate, and design new solutions to real-world problems facing St. Thomas and Elgin County. 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.

Here's how it 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. 

Community Projects Preview

Five of six projects for the 2020-2021 were recently selected through a public application call, followed by consultation with individuals and groups to understand the scope of each challenge. The initial five selected projects are: 

1. Reducing Waste; Finding reuse for items in a cluttered world. Students from Western University's Environmental Health Promotions are working to prototype a plan to create a reuse centre at the the City of St Thomas' Recycling Centre. 
2. Creating Welcoming Sensory Spaces. Students from Eagle Heights Elementary School's Excellerators group are collaborating with Grade 12 students from St. Joseph's Catholic High School and Arthur Voaden Secondary School to create modular sensory walls and tables with the Wellkin Child & Youth Mental Wellness Centre.
3. Creating a Virtual Marketplace to aid local business. Students from H.B. Beal Secondary School and Western University including Ivey Business School are building a plan to help downtown businesses build stronger online connections.
4. Creating an Audio, Video Production Studio for Youth Skill Building. Visual Arts and Video and Design students from Oakridge Secondary School are working to design a creative space at the Ignite Youth Centre where every voice can be heard.
5. Building empathy for living things and the wonders of life. Many in our society are growing more disconnected to nature.  Students in the Communication Technology class at Arthur Voaden will explore 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.  

Get Involved! If you have expertise to share or a problem to address, get in touch with us. Submit your idea for consideration below or send us a note if you have a skill to contribute.

Submit an Idea

This multi-year project is generously funded by The Estate of Donna Bushell within Elgin St. Thomas Community Foundation.