--- title: Where STEAM Meets Quakerism description: At Friends' Central, modern STEAM meets Quaker values. Explore how students put technical skills, stewardship, and service into practice inside the CID. image: https://blog.friendscentral.org/hubfs/Hubspot%20blog%20template.png --- - [About Us](http://friendscentral.org/about) - [Admissions](http://friendscentral.org/admission) - [Academics](https://friendscentral.org/academics) - [Athletics](http://friendscentral.org/page.cfm?p=501) - [Arts](https://friendscentral.org/arts) - [Campus Life](https://friendscentral.org/campus-life) - [Request Info](https://info.friendscentral.org/free-guide#_ga=2.50017889.679910470.1731592311-467942295.1720540655) [![FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL](https://blog.friendscentral.org/hubfs/FriendsCentral%20-Mar2018/Images/text-wide.png) ![FRIENDS' CENTRAL SCHOOL](https://blog.friendscentral.org/hubfs/FriendsCentral%20-Mar2018/Images/text-narrow.png)](https://www.friendscentral.org/) Outstanding Quaker Education Since 1845 | Nursery - Grade 12 - [About Us](https://www.friendscentral.org/about) - [Why FCS?](https://www.friendscentral.org/about/why-fcs) - 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[School Calendar](https://www.friendscentral.org/calendar) - [FCS Blog](https://blog.friendscentral.org/#_ga=2.229267550.351763938.1520833058-1423637094.1518007214) - [Parents](https://www.friendscentral.org/parents) - [Trustee Portal](https://www.friendscentral.org/board-member) - [FCS Summer Programs](http://www.fcsprograms.org/home/) - [FCA (Aquatics)](http://www.swimfca.org/) [The Friends' Central School Blog](https://blog.friendscentral.org) --- # Where STEAM Meets Quakerism [By Friends' Central School](https://blog.friendscentral.org/author/friends-central-school) Oct 16 2026 Walk through Friends’ Central School’s 6,800-square-foot Audrie Gardham Ulmer ’37 Center for Innovation and Design ("the CID"), and you’ll see the full spectrum of modern STEAM in action. On any given day, students are programming robots, prototyping engineering solutions, screen-printing, and mastering digital fabrication. While technical mastery and creative exploration happen daily in these studios, one of the CID's most compelling dimensions is how naturally it connects to Quaker values. In the CID, high-tech maker tools don't just exist for individual projects – they regularly become instruments for stewardship and community enrichment. ## Engineering for Environmental Stewardship Stewardship – one of the core Quaker testimonies – calls us to care thoughtfully for the resources, community, and natural world around us. In the CID, students put this testimony into practice through hands-on conservation engineering: - **Wooden Bat Houses:** Middle and Upper School students engineered custom wooden bat houses designed from plans by bat conservationist Terry Lobdell. The finished structures were donated to Bat Removal Specialists and Pennsylvania Bat Rescue, providing safe, alternative roosting sites to support local little brown bat populations prior to humane removals. - **American Kestrel Nesting Boxes:** Building on that stewardship, students have turned their focus to North America’s smallest falcon, the American Kestrel. As natural tree cavities disappear and kestrel populations decline, students construct precision-built nest boxes. These structures offer critical breeding cavities while giving students a direct, hands-on role in wildlife observation and local ecological restoration. ![Hubspot blog template](https://blog.friendscentral.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Hubspot%20blog%20template.png?width=834&height=334&name=Hubspot%20blog%20template.png) ## Supporting Our Community Students are also using their design and fabrication skills to support their Friends' Central peers: - **Nature Nursery Footbridge:** During May Term 2025, Upper Schoolers designed and built a wooden bridge specifically for the Lower School’s Nature Nursery garden. Bridging practical carpentry with community purpose, it remains a functional, beloved feature that Nursery students play on every day. - **Theater & Set Fabrication:** Stage-crew volunteers use the CID to support student performances and campus productions across all divisions. On the Middle School stage, the weekly "Merry Prop-ins" crew crafted sets and painted chimneys for the Middle School musical *Mary Poppins Jr.*, while the fabrication team designed custom puzzle pieces and costumes for the student-written play *Puzzled*. ![Hubspot blog template-1](https://blog.friendscentral.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Hubspot%20blog%20template-1.png?width=869&height=348&name=Hubspot%20blog%20template-1.png) ## Prototyping with Purpose The CID proves that technical education doesn't have to exist in a vacuum. By grounding hands-on design in Quaker values, Friends’ Central students learn that the skills they build inside the CID can directly impact the community outside of it. To see the CID in action or learn more about STEAM programs at Friends' Central, register for an upcoming Admissions event at [friendscentral.org/admission](https://www.friendscentral.org/admission?utm_source=gemini).   Previous: [Friends’ Central Alumni/ae Shaping the Arts and Media](https://blog.friendscentral.org/friends-central-alumni/ae-shaping-the-arts-and-media) [![Share on facebook](https://7528309.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/7528309/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mV0_d-web-default-modules_hubspot/img/facebook-color.png?width=24&name=facebook-color.png)](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Ffriendscentralschool%2F%3Fhl%3Den%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook) [![Share on linkedin](https://7528302.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/7528302/hubfs/raw_assets/public/mV0_d-web-default-modules_hubspot/img/linkedin-color.png?width=24&name=linkedin-color.png)](https://www.linkedin.com/school/friends'-central-school/) **See what Friends' Central has to offer.** [Early Childhood](https://www.friendscentral.org/academics/lower-school/early-childhood) [Lower School](https://www.friendscentral.org/academics/lower-school) [Middle School](https://www.friendscentral.org/academics/middle-school) [Upper School](https://www.friendscentral.org/academics/upper-school) [Request Info](https://info.friendscentral.org/free-guide#_ga=2.100048030.1618653794.1731936007-1951728694.1731437353) [Visit FCS](https://www.friendscentral.org/admission/admission-events#_ga=2.165592127.1618653794.1731936007-1951728694.1731437353) [Apply Now](https://www.friendscentral.org/admission/apply#_ga=2.65926062.1618653794.1731936007-1951728694.1731437353) [RSS Feeds](https://www.friendscentral.org/news#) [All posts](https://blog.friendscentral.org/all) [Friends' Central School](https://www.friendscentral.org/) Middle & Upper School Campus Grades 6-12 1101 City Avenue Wynnewood, PA 19096 610-649-7440 [Directions](https://www.friendscentral.org/about/directions) [Campus Map](https://www.friendscentral.org/about/middle-upper-map) Lower School Campus Nursery - Grade 5 228 Old Gulph Road Wynnewood, PA 19096 610-642-7575 [Directions](https://www.friendscentral.org/about/directions) [Campus Map](https://www.friendscentral.org/about/lower-map) - [Apply Now](https://www.friendscentral.org/admission/apply) - [Support FCS](https://www.friendscentral.org/support-fcs) - [Request Information](hhttps://info.friendscentral.org/free-guide) - [Privacy Policy](https://www.friendscentral.org/privacy-policy) - [Site Map](https://www.friendscentral.org/site-map) - [Accessibility](https://www.friendscentral.org/accessibility-statement) [Powered by Finalsite](https://www.finalsite.com) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Friends' Central School", "url" : "https://blog.friendscentral.org/author/friends-central-school" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-16T12:38:02.291Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-16T12:38:02.000Z", "headline" : "Where STEAM Meets Quakerism", "image" : [ "https://blog.friendscentral.org/hubfs/Hubspot%20blog%20template.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://blog.friendscentral.org/where-steam-meets-quakerism", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://blog.friendscentral.org/hubfs/FCS_PrimaryLogo_Navy_rgb.png" }, "name" : "Friends' Central School" } } ```