Ayres Elementary teacher sparks STEM curiosity in SmartLab students

Ayres Elementary’s youngest students are building moon bases, testing inventions and learning to keep going when a design does not work the first time in Kacy Hickam’s SmartLab class. The hands-on work is giving K-2 students an early start on STEM skills that Logan County families increasingly want to see in local schools.

Hickam, who is listed by RE-1 Valley School District as Ayres Elementary’s SmartLab facilitator, was recognized during Teacher Appreciation Week, which ran May 4-8, 2026, with Teacher Appreciation Day on May 5. The district’s focus on her classroom was not just about celebrating a teacher, but about the kind of learning her students are getting every day: building confidence through trial and error, and turning curiosity into practical problem-solving.

Ayres Elementary sits at 1812 Robin Road in Sterling and is part of RE-1 Valley School District in Logan County. District materials describe the SMART Lab as one of the district’s newer learning spaces, and say the program helps students collaborate, problem-solve and work in teams. That early exposure matters in a place like Sterling, where parents are watching closely to see how schools prepare children before they reach the upper grades.

The district introduced the lab to the community at an open house on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., inviting families to see the new space in action. The timing underscored how much the district is investing in early STEM experiences, not as an add-on, but as part of its broader mission to prepare each student today for tomorrow.

For Ayres students, that mission now starts with building, testing and revising projects in a lab setting that rewards persistence. In Hickam’s classroom, the lesson is not only about science and engineering. It is about learning how to think through a challenge, work with classmates and keep improving until the idea holds up.