Environmental Learning Center at SAMi

The Environmental Learning Center recently took home a Grand Prize Award from Learning by Design, an education design publication. 

Owls and starfish and robots – oh my! Wildlife and robotics made the perfect combo to show what goes on in the new Environmental Learning Center, the building next to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium that serves as a home base for SAMi students and zoo staff. On Jan. 27, people from across Tacoma celebrated the building and the partnership between Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma that helped make it happen. 

Day in the life of a SAMi student. 

Steve Murakami from Tacoma Public Schools talks about the plans for the new facilities for the Science and Math Institute. Working with Metro Parks Tacoma, TPS contracted Tacoma's McGranahan Architects to plan the building. Designer Michael McGavock explains the philosophy behind how SOTA and SAMi are embedded within a community like Tacoma. Curtis Hancock from Metro Parks shows how project based learning will be highlighted in these new spaces, which are being incorporated into Metro Parks' master plan for construction at Point Defiance Park.