Piper Harding coded a tiny robot so that it could make its way around a printed maze.

To do so, she needed to consider the robot’s time, direction and speed.

“I think it is really cool,” said Harding, 11, a fifth-grade Tamaqua Elementary School student and a member of the SHINE After-School Program at Lehigh Carbon Community College’s Morgan Campus in Tamaqua.

On Wednesday, the college celebrated the opening of its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) Makerspace creative learning classroom. Attendees toured the classroom and talked to SHINE students like Harding who were working on projects.

Plans are to use the makerspace as a collaborative hub for LCCC’s Teacher Education Program, an area for professional development for local K-12 faculty and a home for STEM summer camps for local K-12 students.

The newly customized classroom was funded through the college’s SHINE after-school program. It is stocked with a variety of both high- and low-tech items including a 3D printer, robotic items, a green screen for animation and a LEGO wall.

Mary Ann Herring, a SHINE instructor and fourth-grade teacher at Tamaqua Elementary School, guided students as they used a 3D computer program.

The youths wore 3D glasses, and used a pointer to manipulate items on the screen. As they did, items appeared to move from the screen and into their workspaces.

Similar programs, Herring said, could be used to simulate dissections or medical procedures.

Aubry Jones, a fourth-grade student at Tamaqua Elementary, was working on a circuit. Herring said the students have used circuitry to make a buzzer - and even flying objects.

Tamaqua Area School District Superintendent Ray Kinder visited the classroom and couldn’t help but notice the students’ enthusiasm. He said he didn’t need a learning plan to know what was happening.

“There’s learning going on there,” he said.

Ty Yost, assistant to the executive director for district services at the Luzerne Intermediate Unit 18, said the makerspace provides hands-on, experiential learning that highlights the real-world application of academic lessons.

“Those jobs (in STEAM) are here and the sooner we expose them, the better,” he said.

Harding said she’s considering a career in technology or science.

The makerspace will be available for use by area school districts, teachers and for professional development later in the fall.

For information on the makerspace or how to utilize it for teacher training, contact Amber Zuber at 570-668-6880.