By: Ruben Ibarra Jr., The Lufkin Daily News | Read it >
Students at Corrigan-Camden Elementary are experiencing hands-on science, technology, engineering and math learning this week, thanks to a visit from Learning Undefeated’s mobile STEM lab. This educational pop-up, which runs until Friday, provides immersive activities designed to spark students’ interest in STEM careers.
The visit is part of a statewide initiative funded by a $2.9 million grant from the Texas Education Agency, allowing Learning Undefeated to expand its fleet of mobile STEM labs. This grant will enable more schools across Texas access to the labs, which currently receive more than 500 applications annually.
“With only one mobile lab here, we’re only able to see 30 schools a school year, but that’s going to change,” said Desurae Matthews, education program manager. “Instead of one mobile lab going to every single region, it’ll be like one mobile lab to every two or three regions so that we can circle through those applications that we’ve been receiving.”
This program originally came to Texas in response to Hurricane Harvey, helping schools that lost equipment and lab space, but it has since evolved into a program that brings STEM education to students statewide.
At Corrigan-Camden, teachers selected from a library of 14 activities tailored to their curriculum. Each class spends an hour in the mobile lab, working through hands-on challenges designed to make STEM concepts approachable and fun.
“Experiences like these engage students because a lot of times students only know what they see, so if they’re not exposed, they don’t know it exists,” Matthews said. “In part of our lesson, we take time to emphasize STEM careers that are related to the lesson just to spark that interest in STEM, getting them thinking and giving them that confidence like, ‘Oh, I can do this.’”
Matthews noted the importance of building students’ confidence in STEM fields, particularly for those who might initially lack the confidence.
“My favorite part of this is inspiring those students that lack confidence,” Matthews said. “We ask, ‘Who can be an engineer?’ And oftentimes when you ask that question, you can see the students are like a deer in headlights. So taking that moment to pour into them and motivate them that ‘hey, you can do this’ has to be my favorite part.
The Texas Mobile STEM lab program aims to demystify STEM careers for students by providing real-world examples and interactive experiences.
“Giving students a hands-on opportunity to actually engineer things is definitely helpful,” Matthews said.
Corrigan-Camden Elementary is one of the 46 schools scheduled to host the STEM lab this year. With plans to expand to eight new mobile STEM labs in Texas for the 2025-26 school year, Learning Undefeated is ensuring more Texas students have access to these experiences.
