The MHS Extension at MUSD Innovation Campus certainly innovated on how the main campus operated from the past couple of decades. The Innovation Campus offers industry-standard machinery, workbenches with power drills and dremels, and a direct object printer, Junior Addison Tuet said. Along with the latest technology, the Innovation Campus also offers a block schedule, a unique alternative to the typical six-periods-a-day at the main campus.
There was a lot of uncertainty about how things would work and run at the Innovation Campus when she transferred, Tuet said.
“One of the big things about innovation, especially the first year, was that anything the student says matters, because the teachers are literally looking for the input of ‘what do we add next?’” Tuet said. “If you want to be the person to take initiative, like I did for a lot of things, and want to learn things, build things, kind of shape the environment around you, then you definitely get the opportunity. Your voice is very easily heard when there’s only 60 of you.”
Tuet decided to transfer to the Innovation Campus in its opening year in spite of all the logistics and the specifics of the school still being in the air, she said. Tuet was curious to see what the different tools and machines that Innovation offered were like, she said.
“What also appealed was the block schedule,” Tuet said. “I wasn’t seeing the point of school with being at MHS, because it felt like every class was just for a grade, versus Innovation Campus (was) something new.”
Tuet started the club INNYOURSTYLE, which makes custom school merchandise using the Makerspace, a room at the Innovation campus that includes various industry-standard machines and technology such as 3D printers, she said. Tuet is also the head planner for community game nights and started another club called WiSTEM, she added.
“WiSTEM is meant to empower girls, women, non-binary people, with STEM and engineering stuff,” Tuet said. “At Innovation Campus last year, there were 10 girls. This year we got a lot more than that, which is really nice. The goal really is to use the Makerspace, learn technical skills, (and) realize that (STEM) is a male-dominated industry, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no place for women in it.”
One of the main reasons why junior Ridhwan Zaman decided to attend Innovation campus after his freshman year was because he didn’t like the environment of MHS or the classes he was taking, he said.
“Innovation offers more hands-on (learning); that’s kind of the whole point of it,” Zaman said. “We have PBL, which is project-based learning, and we can make our own projects if we want to. We have more resources, like in the Makerspace.”
The Makerspace hosts 3D printers, a machine that prints stickers, vinyl wrapping, and more, Zaman said. He also chose to attend the Innovation Campus because he was interested in e-tech, he said.
“I’ve learned so much more here than at the main campus,” Zaman said. “At the main campus I knew how to 3-D print, but not well. Here, I actually know how to 3-D print. I know how to (use) CAD (computer-assisted design). I never learned how to use Photoshop on the main campus. But here we’re learning how to use Photoshop, and next year we’re going to learn about After Effects and video production.”
Zaman is a part of the student council and is secretary of the eSports club, he said. The eSports club utilizes a lab room at the Innovation Campus filled with gaming computers, he said.
“We are in charge of, technically, the first lab made for esports,” Zaman said. “We have, as of now, a VALORANT team, and we’re planning to add more teams. We’re gonna add Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Halo, just competitive games.”
Junior Surese Vu decided to transfer to Innovation at the beginning of her junior year for reasons other than building skills for a tech-orientated career path, Vu said. Students have the option of taking college classes on the Innovation campus in addition to their original schedule at the Innovation, she said.
“I moved here mainly because of the college classes, the block schedule (…) and because it’s more project-based and less quizzes and tests,” Vu said. “I don’t regret moving because the teachers here are really involved, and they actually take their time to teach you materials and get into your life.”
Vu also believes that the environment at Innovation is more welcoming than the environment at the main campus, she said.
“I feel like, here, the people are more friendly and warm because there’s less people,” Vu said. “At the main campus, there’s so many people and sometimes they’re already in their groups and you can’t really join in. But here, I think it’s pretty easy to do that.”
