Chemistry and physics are not typically on the schedules of pre-teenagers.

However, those courses are part of the regular schedule at Mastery East Camden Middle, where a science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics program teaching fifth through eighth graders in an innovative space has already yielded significant results.

“We really wanted a program that could compete with other districts that people might see as more affluent,” said Dawn Wolfson, the STEAM teacher at East Camden Middle, adding she visited many different schools and spoke with teachers to see what their STEAM programs were like.

Consequently, in the five years that East Camden Middle’s STEAM program has existed, courses such as “Robotics Engineering,” “Science of Technology,” “Applied Chemistry,” “Applied Physics,” “Creating Simple Machines” and “Energy and the Environment” have been added to the school’s curriculum.

School Principal Lynette Padin-Reyes, along with Wolfson, oversaw the redesign of a large space within the school to include a Lego lab, a robotics lab, an engineering lab, a computer room with 3D printers, tables, chairs, and plenty of room to work and study.