Editor’s Note: This story is part of a year-long Learning Lab Wichita storytelling project following education founder Darby Breaux-Vickers as she builds and grows her learning model. Through regular conversations

When Melissa Lair made the decision to homeschool, she didn’t yet know what she didn’t know. So, after getting a few years’ experience under her belt, Lair created a resource

Young Changemakers Plan Free Dinner for 250. Two incoming sixth graders took on the challenge of feeding the hungry in Wichita this summer through a project with the National Youth

Creative Minds, a Wichita Public Schools K-6th grade vertical classroom, started at Learning Lab in August 2024 with 12 kids. Lead teacher Olivia Sumner helped create the model, which focuses on Project-Based

Mega Pines opened May 4 on the outskirts of Andover, Kansas. In addition to the 18-hole mini golf course, the property features permanent yard games (large-scale versions of tic tac toe, checkers, Connect 4, ring toss and cornhole) and a clubhouse that can be rented for group activities. 

Natural lighting from floor-to-ceiling windows highlights the dozens of colorful art supplies stored on a pegboard wall. Moveable butcher-block tables and stools accommodate learners of all ages, creating from their imaginations.

As families step into the Learning Lab Wichita makerspace, they discover a flexible, ready-to-go environment filled with everything needed to bring ideas to life. The space is stocked with tools, materials and self-guided activities.

By Lauren Watkins It all started when 7-year-old Brynlee, who attends Wichita Public Schools’ Creative Minds microschool inside Learning Lab Wichita, decided she wanted to raise funds to help members

The high school classroom, filled with sawdust and construction tools, hardly resembled a typical geometry learning environment. Students were busy making planter boxes to sell in a fundraiser to earn the supplies they needed to build a storage shed.

Creative Minds, a classroom of mixed grade levels in the Wichita Public Schools system, focuses on hands-on, exploratory learning activities for students from kindergarten to sixth grade. The curriculum allows parents to select the best educational path for their child through a personalized learning intended to ignite a passion for lifelong learning. 

Sometimes, the only way for students to figure out what excites them is to try things out firsthand. That’s why Circle High School in Towanda, Kansas, has implemented a student internship program. Circle’s College and Career Ready internship program gives students the chance to explore new career paths early by participating in job shadowing opportunities and semester-long internships. As a student at Circle, my internship started with a conversation and turned into something that has shaped how I see my future.