Augusta Prep will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony for its state-of-the-art W. Rodger Giles Institute for Inquiry at 4 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 24. The $11 million W. Rodger Giles Institute for Inquiry, scheduled to open in 2024, will be one of a kind in the Augusta area.
The institute is being constructed as a unique future-facing sciences and engineering building that prepares students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is being driven by high-speed Internet, cloud technology, artificial intelligence, automation, 3D printing, and big data analytics, along with the workplaces of the future.
This new two-story facility will be the arena in which Augusta Prep students sharpen their skills for college and the workplace – design thinking, prototyping, problem-solving, programming, and presenting their novel concepts and innovative creations. This facility will not only host traditional science education (biology, chemistry, physics) but expand Prep’s technological sciences (coding, robotics, engineering) as well as venture into the more futuristic science learning tools using digital fabrication (3D printing) and augmented/virtual reality.
The offerings for this program, like virtual reality devices or 3D printers, will be available for use by all Prep teachers and students, not just those enrolled in required or elective science courses.
“This facility is going to have a much more modern and collegiate feel to it. When you walk in the door, this is going to look and feel more like the Georgia Cyber Center downtown than a typical school,” Augusta Prep Head of School, Derrick Willard said.
“We have some amazing STEM teachers doing remarkable programming in dated spaces from the last century which were not designed for robotics, engineering, forensics, coding, or virtual reality. This facility will provide us with spaces that better fit our 21st Century programs as well as our graduates’ futures.”
Augusta Prep, founded in 1960, is ranked as one of Niche.com’s 2022 “Best Schools” and as Augusta’s best private school with an A+ rating.
