P.S. Jones Middle School students are getting the opportunity to go beyond the classroom, exploring real-life problems and creating solutions.

Thanks to a grant awarded by the Golden LEAF Foundation, the school is the only one in Beaufort County to have a new “eSTEAM” class based on technology and engineering, including the equipment to make the students’ ideas a reality.

According to a press release from East Carolina University, which is partnering with other professionals and educators for the initiative, “the program will provide an effective education-to-workforce pipeline to address the growing shortage of eastern North Carolina advanced manufacturing workers and entrepreneurs, technically skilled in science, technology, engineering, art/design and mathematics (STEAM), as well as innovation and entrepreneurship (e) processes.”

Valerie Whitehead, who teaches the new course at P.S. Jones Middle, said the grant paid for equipment, such as a 3-D printer and scanner, a Mac computer and a high-definition color printer, among other things.

“This class is totally about the kids thinking outside the box,” she said. “It’s really making them think, creatively think.”

Whitehead said during the week and a half since the start of school, she asked the students to come up with a fixable problem they saw within the classroom and then work in groups to brainstorm solutions. In the coming weeks, the students will have more time in the eSTEAM lab to use the equipment to actually bring their ideas to fruition, she said.

“It’s amazing what they can think of,” Whitehead said. “It’s just about opening the kids up to the possibilities. … I’m learning right along with the kids.”

Tracey Nixon, principal at P.S. Jones Middle, said in a recent interview that she was excited and surprised when she received the phone call telling her the school received the grant money.

She said using the equipment provided, especially the 3-D equipment, students can make a variety of objects, including smartphone cases or Christmas ornaments.

Nixon said the school is looking forward to seeing what the new course will entail.

“I’m so excited; the kids are so excited,” Whitehead said.

She said she is only teaching seventh and eighth graders this semester, but will teach all grades in the spring. Whitehead said the class is unlike any other — not clear cut like math or science classes — and seeing the students’ excitement and creativity is what drives her.

“It’s pulling a whole lot of things into one thing,” she said. “I am having a blast, which is all because of the kids.”