September 2025
Ann Hyra, Business & Community Development Grants Manager
School districts and technical colleges—often the largest employers and most resource-rich institutions in a community—are uniquely positioned to drive local growth, innovation, and civic engagement. Be it students designing custom pieces for downtown beautification, businesses offering hands-on training and donating materials, or schools opening their doors for community classes—these partnerships are redefining what it means to invest in place. It’s time to rethink the role of schools in your community development strategy. Across Wisconsin, schools are transforming underutilized spaces into high-tech fabrication laboratories (fab labs) through the WEDC Fab Labs Grant Program. These labs are more than just educational tools—they’re catalysts for cross-sector collaboration. This article highlights some case studies and projects resulting from school district partnerships that may inspire local opportunities.
Prescott School District
The Prescott School District is a leader in community partnerships, offering numerous classes open to the entire community. The district’s community education coordinator manages the program, which offers a wide range of classes, including those hosted in the fab lab facility and taught by district instructors or outside professionals. Examples of recent offerings include metalworking, art metals and glassblowing. In addition to educational courses, the district also engages students in completing a community project annually. These projects raise funds for the district but also increase awareness in the community of what the lab offers. To date, projects have included keychains, cutting boards, coasters, shelving, and other home décor.
The most critical partnership for the district is with the local community education program. Completing projects for community spaces—such as constructing a sign, a bench, or a shed—helps to raise the fab lab’s profile. Two years in, the fab lab team believes that community support is growing as awareness and trust build. The district is beginning to receive more inquiries about upcoming courses and offerings. A focus on community engagement has also led to local business partnerships, which have resulted in donations of supplies for use in the lab, allowing students to learn about drying and milling lumber using donated logs, and to learn about local employers (and learn real-world skills) in the process.
New Lisbon School District
New Lisbon’s fab lab, led by a 20-year veteran educator, is well integrated into the community, and civic organizations and businesses often reach out with project ideas. Students then strategize ways to design, manufacture, and produce the desired projects, providing invaluable training. Past project partnerships have included working with the 4-H club to create plaques for Operation Christmas Cheer, mass-producing birdhouse kits for the local Outdoors Forever chapter’s Youth Day, and creating duck houses for the local Kids and Mentors Outdoors Club. New Lisbon technology education students built a 12-by-16-foot kayak storage shed for the city and an 8-by-12-foot food stand for the New Lisbon Lions Club.
Omro fox statue project continues
In a partnership between the local chamber and school district, students used the fab lab to launch a citywide public art project. Harkening to the city’s location on the Fox River and as a former fur farming hub, students in the lab created a plan to produce a more than a dozen 40-inch-tall fox statues. The project began with local business support to understand and test potential composite materials. Actual production involved multiple school departments, including work in the wood shop and art department to create the molds. Students then craft the resin and expandable polyurethane foam statues, which are then painted by students in the art department and local artists and located in public spaces around town as part of a scavenger hunt.
Makerspace continues to see high community use
After seven years in operation, the Antigo High School fab lab continues to gain popularity among community members. The fab lab opens its doors to the community most Thursday nights. Community members are allowed to come into the fab lab to work on their own projects or participate in scheduled classes. Community members have access to the lab’s large-format printers, vinyl cutters, laser engravers, 3D printers, routers, a CNC (computer numerical control) mill and lathe, hand tools, and computers for design work. Community members have made all kinds of personal projects, from charcuterie boards to stickers, posters, decals for cars, engraved wood items, and more. The fab lab hosts a popular charcuterie board-making class at least four times a year. In addition to encouraging lifelong learning among local residents, the open fab lab nights let “them see how their tax dollars are being spent” and get a “better idea of what’s going on, what the needs are, (and) how things are being used,” technology education teacher David Kuhr said.
High school students building a future
This year marks the fifth house that will be constructed by Amery students as part of their construction academy. Participating students take a series of classes to prepare for the scale of the project, including understanding construction, print reading, and technical math. Upon completion, students can receive a technical diploma through Northwood Technical College and are able to participate in the home build. Students work hand in hand with local contractors to help with rough plumbing, set concrete forms, lay vapor barriers, and insulate, among other elements. This project helps students gain an appreciation for the trades and provides a path to employment, helping to keep talented young workers in the community.
Ashland’s historic Oredock
The city of Ashland is fortunate to have Northwood Technical College as a community partner. Students at the college (formerly known as WITC-Ashland) have executed numerous projects to enhance public spaces throughout this community. Past projects have ranged from park pergolas to custom trash cans, decorated with mosaic tiles by local artists. The most recent and highly visible project featured Welding Club students handcrafting large interactive letters for the Ashland Oredock. The large metal letters that spell out “Oredock” were installed to welcome people to the historic site for that picture-perfect moment. People can sit on them, stand on them, lean on them—wedding parties have even used them as a backdrop for group photos.
Many of the projects featured here were completed using modern equipment and materials, in partnerships between educators, community leaders, and businesses. If your community is interested in exploring partnerships to increase student engagement and enhance public spaces in the community, consider the following resources offering funding or technical assistance to local districts:
Additional case study details on Prescott, New Lisbon, Southern Door and Belleville fab lab programs
DWD Fast Forward Grant Program
