Friends' Central Receives $1 Million Gift for Lower School Light Lab

Head of School Craig Sellers announced that Friends’ Central alumnus Rich Ulmer ’60 and his wife, Bev, have pledged $1 million to bring to life the Lower School Light Lab, a transformative space that will feature four distinct studios for innovation and creation. The gift honors Rich’s parents, Audrie Gardam Ulmer ’37 and Walter Ulmer, and his sister, Carolyn Ulmer Gorman ’66.

Designed to spark the imagination, creativity, and problem-solving mindset children will need to succeed in a rapidly changing world, the Light Lab felt like the right place for the Ulmers to put their gift. Rich shared, “I love the idea of starting young, of exposing little kids to new and exciting materials and ideas and letting them explore, asking questions and looking for answers, but not necessarily finding them. It’s really about the process of learning, not an end product. Bev and I identified with the purpose of this project and feel a connection to the idea of a Light Lab, a place designed to light up inquiry-based learning as soon as possible in a child’s life.”

Sellers was thrilled to share this exciting news of the Ulmers’ generosity with the community. He commented, “The Ulmer Family Light Lab puts Friends’ Central at the very forefront of education. In addition to providing a facility that has no equal for our youngest students, we see this as a visionary investment in teaching and learning that recognizes the importance of making, designing, prototyping, and the like as integral to great education. I am thrilled that Rich and Bev are making such an incredible contribution to transforming the Friends’ Central experience for years to come.”

The Ulmer Family Light Lab will open in September 2016 and will provide new opportunities for Lower School students in four areas: Natural Sciences—year-round gardening, cooking, and aerodynamic experiments; Fabrication—woodworking, 3-D printing, and sewing; Media & Computing—film editing, stop-motion animation, and robotics; and Design—prototyping, models, and sketching. This exciting facility will bring together Friends’ Central’s creative faculty with cutting-edge design, increased space, and a plethora of tools and resources, giving young learners the very best opportunities to innovate and to create.ng, models, and sketching. This exciting facility will bring together Friends’ Central’s creative faculty with cutting-edge design, increased space, and a plethora of tools and resources, giving young learners the very best opportunities to innovate and to create.

To learn more, visit friendscentral.org/lightlab.