Tecumseh High School (THS) students will soon have an advanced STEM laboratory and “Maker Space” available in the high school library. The new lab will include a 3D printer, a plotter, poster maker, and various other supplies that will help students create, invent, and build academic projects. The project has been made possible by the hard work and persistence of Mr. John Kame (Industrial Technologies/ Electricity and Design) and Mrs. Rachel Brown (THS Library/Media Specialist) in finding funding for the project.

Kame and Brown recently won the 2016 Lowe’s “Toolbox for Education” grant in the amount of $4,910.00. Grant monies are being used to specifically help students who are competing in the “Believe in Ohio (BIO) STEM Class” that will be offered at Tecumseh during the next school year. STEM stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.” STEM classes and academies are popping up all over the United States in the hopes of raising student interest in STEM topics and fostering innovation in those areas.

Brown and Kame say the new STEM lab will allow THS to offer the BIO STEM class called “Shark Tank.” The class is a lot like the popular television show by the same name. According to Kame, the Shark Tank class will challenge the kids to invent a new product or improve an existing product, then market and possibly even produce their product. Each student’s idea will be entered into a statewide competition where they will compete for cash awards and a $25,000 scholarship towards in-state college tuition—both offered by BIO.

According to its website, BIO is the only Ohio student STEM education program to integrate entrepreneurship and innovation as pathways to create future jobs. It is offered by the Ohio Academy of Science and was designed to help Ohio’s students prepare for the future and become Ohio’s next generation of STEM innovators. The hope of the BIO program is that its participants will stay in Ohio where they will continue to invent products and services to help create jobs in the state and contribute to society overall. Although BIO was developed to be able to reach any high school student, there is a special emphasis on offering it to the underserved.

The creation of the STEM lab is a dream come true for the educators.

Kame says he’s had the idea for a STEM lab for many years and applied for grants before, without success. Brown says she really wanted to have a Production Lab available in the library where students would have access to all of the materials and tools they needed in order to complete projects. After Brown was turned down for a grant that would have made the lab a reality, Kame approached her to discuss how her idea for the Production Lab corresponded with his idea for a STEM lab. The two joined forces and began looking for resources to make such a space possible at THS. Kame says that after getting Resource Technology Coordinator, Veronica Cassidy, and a few other folks on board, everything eventually fell into place, culminating with the duo winning the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant.

Although they are excited about the project as a whole, both Brown and Kame say they are especially excited about the STEM lab’s 3-D printer they recently purchased, “We were already checking it out today and it’s pretty cool...we made a lion and it was awesome,” Brown laughs. “We can even make a 3-D pen or a robotic arm...just about anything,” says Kame, smiling.

Brown further stresses how the new STEM lab will benefit Tecumseh’s students, “We have a lot of kids who are creative and want to make stuff, and we also have a lot of kids who need re-focused to make things because they don’t have it anywhere else. This (lab) will make that possible.”

Kame and Brown believe their different skills complement each other and will help them as they use the new lab to co-teach the new Shark Tank STEM class. They say there are also multitudes of ways professionals in the community can get involved with Tecumseh’s STEM program. “We want to make sure we are giving our students adequate information so they will be able to complete their Shark Tank STEM projects....from designing it to marketing it, we want to make sure (students) have everything they need for every step of the process so they will be successful in the end,” says Brown

For more information about Tecumseh’s new Shark Tank STEM class or how to get involved, contact John Kame at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or Rachel Brown at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Inquiries can also be made by calling Tecumseh High School at 937-845-3576.