Amazon Opens New Educational Lab At Arlington's Wakefield High School

ARLINGTON, VA — Arlington Public Schools, in partnership with Amazon Web Services, held a ribbon-cutting on Monday to celebrate the grand opening of a new educational lab at Wakefield High School.

The education lab, called the AWS Think Big Space, will provide a dedicated space for students, educators and community members to explore ideas through hands-on technical education.

Wakefield is the first public high school in the nation to receive an AWS Think Big Space. The new space will serve as an “educational incubator,” using cloud computing and various AWS and Amazon technologies.

“We’re thrilled to see this collaboration with Amazon come to life,” Wakefield Principal Chris Willmore said Monday. “With the world becoming increasingly digital, STEM education is more important than ever, and state-of-the-art STEM labs such as our new Think Big Space are vital in exposing students to STEM disciplines, careers, and opportunities.”

In 2018, Amazon, the parent company of AWS, chose Arlington as the site of its second headquarters. Since that announcement, Amazon has worked with the county on several projects and has made significant investments in local governments and nonprofit organizations in the D.C. area.

The AWS Think Big Space was named after one of Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles, which states, “Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Leaders create and communicate a bold direction that inspires results. They think differently and look around corners for ways to serve customers.”

The AWS Think Big Space is an integrated environment where everything from the furniture, technology and curriculum work together to support interactive hands-on learning.

“We’re proud to call Virginia home and to support our neighbors as we grow here in Arlington,” said Holly Sullivan, Amazon’s vice president of economic development. “We want to ensure more kids have the resources and skills they need to build their best futures, and believe this AWS Think Big Space will act as a significant point of access for high school students who may not normally take advantage — or even be aware of — STEM career paths. We can’t wait to see what they will create.”

Wendy Maitland, who most recently served as the Resource Teacher for the Gifted at Wakefield, will oversee the new space.

“The AWS Think Big Space gives students at Wakefield the opportunity to explore, experiment and engage with the technology they may not have access to in their daily lives,” Maitland said.

Wakefield High School is the second AWS Think Big Space in Virginia. In 2019, Amazon funded and built an AWS Think Big Space at River Oaks Elementary in Prince William County.