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Cleveland Stem School Opens at General Electric

Students work with  lasers and dry ice in physics class.
Students work with lasers and dry ice in physics class.

This is the sound of innovation.

(The sound of a crash then applause.)

Students at Cleveland's MC STEM high school tried three times to get four red balls to roll from the top an elaborate contraption that was supposed to trigger a hammer to smash a shatter-proof GE lightbulb. Finally one of the student designers took the hammer - and the experiment - into his own hands and got a round of applause from the crowd.

Student designer Desmond Conlin took the misfire in stride.

CONLIN: "Practice makes perfect. Plus, not everything works. And with failure, you learn."

Eighty or so ninth graders that make up the first class at the Cleveland STEM school -- named for its curriculum of science, technology, engineering and math. They studied at the Great Lakes Science Center until the renovated office building at GE's Nela Park campus opened earlier this month.

Cleveland Schools Chief Eugene Sanders says the students at the new school have a rare opportunity to be mentored by GE employees.

SANDERS: "Ninth graders work with Scientists and engineers as part of their regular work. It's the best example I've seen together of theory and practice in my career."

Students attend classes at the STEM school from 9 a.m. To 4 p.m. year round to mimic the world of work.

Kymberli Hagelberg, 90.3