Woo-Labs students from all over the city convened at the YMCA Greendale on April 16 to celebrate their fantastic projects during the Woo-Labs 3rd Annual Project-Based Learning Showcase. The joy was palpable as dozens of students shared their unique projects with the crowd - ranging from using poetry as a vehicle to discuss social and personal issues to studying the math behind U.S. food benefit policies.
The event featured the work of Woo-Labs students at African Community Education, Broad Meadow Brook, Black Excellence Academy, Guild of St. Agnes at Quinsigamond, Guild of St. Agnes at Granite Street, YMCA Greendale, YWCA at Clark Street, and YWCA at Roosevelt.
After working tirelessly on their projects at their individual programs, students had the chance to share their work with the wider community, including peers, families, and key community stakeholders, including local education leaders and elected officials. "The opportunity for kids to interact with both community members and their peers allowed them to place the project in a larger context – see that this is a larger effort we’re part of," shared Guild of St. Agnes Hanover Fellow Intern Marty Radwell.
These are the fantastic project topics our Woo-Labs students undertook this year through project-based learning:
African Community Education: ACE students, donning matching shirts with ACE key values, shared their robotics projects related to sustainability and renewable energy. Students are also preparing individual projects exploring the social, political, economic and cultural backgrounds of specific countries in Africa for ACE’s 2025 Africa Day.
Black Excellence Academy: Huddling together before their presentation began, the students from Black Excellence Academy showed us what working as a team is really all about. The students designed 2 projects: using mathematics to study food insecurity and focusing on root causes and potential solutions, and building fun board games to teach and practice key math concepts.
Broad Meadow Brook/Mass Audubon: Broad Meadow Brook brought almost their entire crew to the PBL Showcase, capturing everyone’s attention by rattling off bird facts with ease. The students researched bird habitats and constructed models of birds’ nests out of man-made and natural materials. They also learned about green infrastructure and created proposals for how to make environmentally friendly enhancements to Rice Square School’s building and grounds.
Guild of St Agnes - Granite Street: After creating an amazing jewelry business (“Exquisite Jewels”) in the fall, the Granite Street students focused this time on sustainability and renewable energy. They completed a series of mini-projects including creating windmills and watermills.
Guild of St. Agnes - Quinsigamond: The project, called “Changing the World One Poem at a Time,” used different forms of poetry to explore difficult emotions and topics. Their project will culminate with a poetry slam in May.
YMCA Greendale: YMCA Greendale kids practiced their cheer and delivered a highly coordinated, multi-student presentation on designing your own business. Business products included coasters, stuffed animal plushies, jewelry, and stress balls. Students also presented on a sculpture they collectively designed.
YWCA - Clark Street: "Breathe in," instructed YWCA student Cressi into the microphone to the crowd of 100 onlookers, "and breath out." Cressi went on to explain that taking deep breaths is one of many strategies she and her peers learned through their Woo-Labs stress management project. The students explored emotional regulation, identifying and creating fun resources to help manage stress and created bags of resources with stress relieving toys and ideas.
YWCA - Roosevelt: During the showcase, students distributed hats and mittens they had knit through their fall project. This spring, students at Roosevelt designed their own businesses, selling products like keychains, stress balls, and dishes at a small business fair.
Click here to learn more about Woo-Labs.
Many thanks to our generous event sponsors, All One Credit Union and Middlesex Savings Bank!
What is Woo-Labs?
Led by Worcester Education Collaborative, Woo-Labs is a coalition of partners providing 1,300+ students annually with hands-on project-based learning in out-of-school time to promote their academic and social-emotional growth. Woo-Labs' Host Partners target Worcester K-6 grade students experiencing persistent gaps in opportunity and achievement. WEC supports program capacity building by providing Host Partners with extensive professional development, support implementing a joint measurement-for-improvement data system, and a local college student, called "Hanover Fellow," to help implement key Woo-Labs activities. Learn more about Woo-Labs here.
