BROOKINGS – Boys & Girls Club of Brookings kids streamed into the two newly renovated rooms during Monday afternoon’s open house, cheering in excitement as they finally got their chance to glimpse the rooms where volunteers from Lowe’s and the Rotary Club worked hard to get so much done in one week’s time.

Both rooms, called Exploratoriums, act as STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) rooms, one for grades one through three and the other for grades four and five. Being better able to provide for STEM education was one of the primary focuses of the club’s renovation work.

The work was made possible through the Renovation Across the Nation grant awarded to the Brookings Boys & Girls Club during the summer. Amounting to $50,000, the grant comes from a partnership between the Boys & Girls Club of America and Lowe’s, with one club per state selected to receive the grant in order to pay for repair work, improvements and upgrades to enhance the experience of those at the club and to help boost membership.

“All of us at Lowe’s are very proud to support the Boys & Girls Club. We know that this makes a difference for all the kids not only in our community, but across the nation,” Keith Dentlinger, the Brookings Lowe’s store manager, told those gathered at the Monday afternoon open house.

At the moment, there are 1,500 members of the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings, with about 400 attending daily. The renovations were to areas for kids in grades one-five, which amounts to 320 kids.

As part of the work, both rooms received new paint jobs, furniture and equipment. Chuck Bennis even made a mural for each of the rooms. The first- through third-grade room had new carpet put in, and one of the newly installed Lego tables contained a greeting: “Hello,” spelled out with the bricks.

The fourth- through fifth-grade room had oversized chess pieces arranged on a cloth board on a table. It also has new iPads and a green screen so the kids can learn the basics of film editing. New equipment will also allow for hands-on experiments.

Also included in the club’s work was upgrading the building’s security, including installing security cameras.

Kristy Weaver, the first- through third-grade program director, and Matt Sass, the fourth- and fifth-grade program director, each took the leading role in designing their respective rooms.

Of course, the students did have some input, telling staff what they’d like to see incorporated. One child liked pink, and so they were able to get one of the walls painted pink.

While the volunteers busily worked on completing the rooms, the windows were covered so that the kids couldn’t see what the insides looked like. It was all a surprise finally revealed during the open house.

And the children were thankful and excited for the chance to use the completed rooms.

Among the speakers at the open house, fourth-grader Jameson Olsen thanked people for their work, adding, “Some of the things I’m really excited for at the new Exploratorium are movie making and science experiments.”

Third-grader Khadeja Abdullah added during her speech, “I really like the gym because there’s always an interesting activity. I also like the art room. I am excited to see all the new, fun games at the Exploratorium. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.