(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated the start of the new academic year with a visit to a south suburban school district’s STEM unit.
The governor and Illinois School Supt. Tony Sanders on Thursday toured the new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Center in District 159 in Matteson.
The STEM center offers students opportunities to learn electronics, 3D printing, computer coding, robotics and woodworking.
“Boy, are they smart,” Pritzker said of students using the resource. “They’re learning things that I didn’t learn. I don’t think I learned them ever, maybe. I don’t know. I never heard of a ‘hex bug’ before, but I just saw one. Building a habitat for the moon. That’s a real thing.”
The governor was joined by State School Supt. Tony Sanders, who previously ran the state’s second largest school district, Elgin U-46. Sanders said 1.9 million children are returning to classrooms.
The governor praised the jobs being done by teachers and school administrators at a time when there’s a teacher shortage.
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