Elementary Students Explore STEM Careers and Entrepreneurship Through Augmented Reality and Hands-On Engineering at JA BizTown®
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Elementary Students Explore STEM Careers and Entrepreneurship Through Augmented Reality and Hands-On Engineering at JA BizTown®
Lafayette, Ind. — May 5, 2026 — Elementary students visiting Junior Achievement BizTown® are now exploring STEM careers and entrepreneurship through immersive hands-on and augmented reality learning experiences developed by MindLabs, an Indiana-based educational technology platform focused on experiential STEM learning.
The new experiences were introduced during a special event hosted by Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana titled MindLabs Ascended: A Purdue-Fueled Entrepreneurial Success Story, showcasing how strong STEM ecosystems can connect schools, nonprofits, higher education institutions, workforce development organizations, community partners, and educational technology innovators to create more meaningful and future-ready learning experiences for students.
Developed by Explore Interactive and supported through America’s Seed Fund SBIR grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, MindLabs combines hands-on STEM activities, augmented reality, engineering design challenges, and reflective digital notebooking tools to help students actively engage with science, engineering, collaboration, creativity, and real-world problem-solving.
Through the partnership with Junior Achievement, students participating in JA BizTown® can now explore career pathways connected to technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, and engineering in meaningful and age-appropriate ways. The immersive experiences are designed to help students build confidence in STEM while developing future-ready skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and systems thinking.
“Our goal with MindLabs is to help students see themselves as innovators, designers, engineers, and problem-solvers,” said Amanda Thompson, Founder and CEO of MindLabs and a Purdue University alumna. “Strong STEM ecosystems create opportunities for students to connect classroom learning to real-world experiences, future careers, and the people and organizations helping shape their communities.”
The event also marked the reopening of the Purdue Storefront inside JA BizTown® and the official launch of MindLabs career experiences within the interactive city environment.
Attendees experienced live demonstrations of JA BizTown® in action and explored how immersive and experiential STEM learning can help strengthen workforce readiness and career-connected learning opportunities at an earlier age.
VIP speakers and attendees included:
- Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski
- Virginia Vought, Senior Executive Director of Community Engagement
- Eva Nodine, CEO of Purdue Global
- Amanda Thompson, Founder & CEO, MindLabs
- Resa Hodnett, Experiential Learning Center Director, Junior Achievement
Speakers throughout the event emphasized the importance of building strong STEM ecosystems that support collaboration between education, industry, nonprofits, and community organizations to expand access to engaging, career-connected STEM learning experiences for students.
The partnership reflects a growing movement toward experiential and technology-enhanced STEM education models that help students move beyond passive learning and into active exploration, collaboration, innovation, and career awareness.
About MindLabs
MindLabs is the flagship product of Explore Interactive, an educational technology company dedicated to democratizing STEM education through accessible, interactive, and immersive learning experiences. The platform combines augmented reality, hands-on learning, customizable engineering notebooking, process tracking, and collaboration tools designed to support both student engagement and educator insight.
MindLabs serves schools, afterschool programs, museums, and community organizations with NGSS-aligned STEM learning experiences designed to help students build confidence and curiosity in science, technology, engineering, and problem-solving.
About Junior Achievement
Junior Achievement serving Greater Lafayette is a regional subsidiary of Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana, which delivered nearly 191,000 education experiences to students and young adults during the 2024–2025 school year. These experiences foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills and use experiential learning to inspire students to dream big and reach their potential.
Media Contacts
Amanda Thompson
CEO of Explore Interactive, Inc.
West Lafayette Indiana
athompson@exploresupport.com
Resa Hodnett
Experiential Learning Center Director
Junior Achievement serving Greater Lafayette
(765) 412-0022
resa.hodnett@ja.org