Hybla Valley Elementary awarded $5,000 grant for LEGO science initiative

Hybla Valley Elementary School is one of five Fairfax County Public Schools to win a $5,000 grant thanks to its initiative to improve science skills through hands-on training with LEGO educational tools. 

Hybla Valley will use the grant to purchase LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 classroom kits, as well as LEGO’s Simple Machine Classroom kit, for its 5th grade science classes.

The LEGO sets will compliment the school’s existing curriculum and allow for more hands-on experimentation during science classes, according to Michael Krajack, an assistant principal at Hybla Valley. The lessons supplied with the kits will also support the review of 4th grade science objectives and enhance the 5th grade instructional program, Krajack said.

“The LEGO Education kit activities provide opportunities for students to engage in inquiry-based learning and will encourage our students to consider how and why certain things worked or did not, and to not simply worry about if they worked” said Krajack, who is in his first year at Hybla Valley and his 25th year in FCPS.

The money from the grant is enough to buy two WeDO 2.0 kits and two Simple Machines sets, Krajack said. Each set is able to support a classroom. 

Krajack said the students will work collaboratively to build and run experiments with the kits. The students will then draw conclusions based on their data.

“We hope to spark a love of science in all of our students,” Krajack said.

Apple Federal Credit Union, through its education foundation, partners with FCPS to award its IMPACT Grants to schools and teachers each year. In addition to the five schools given $5,000, six teacher-level grants are awarded for up to $2,000. Fort Hunt Elementary School was one of this year’s winners of a teacher-level grant for its “Growing Second Grade Gardeners” program.