STEAM Programs at Newburgh Creates
In 2025, OpenHub has partnered with Newburgh Creates to offer a number of engaging and educational programs for students K-12. Newburgh Creates is located in a beautiful, newly renovated space in downtown Newburgh just south of Downing Park. The building has four floors to explore, and it blends the old historical brick walls and ceiling beams with a modern design sensibility. Come visit some time!
BuildLab - Coding, Robotics, Lego, Games, and Maker Space
Starting October 1, we are offering a FREE class called BuildLab. We plan to teach an exciting curriculum that will include programming, robotics, electronics, and game development. We will explore:
- Lego Robotics & Other Robotics Platforms
- Coding with Scratch, Python, and Roblox
- Video Game Development
- Design Thinking & the Relationship Between Art and Science
- Electronics - Breadboards, Circuits, Lights, Buzzers, and Microcontrollers
Thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Orange & Sullivan’s Fund for Women and Children, BUILDLab is free for all participants.
Robotics Programs
We are currently offering a few different robotics programs in partnership with Newburgh Creates. These include First Lego League Teams, a First Tech Challenge Team, and a non-competitive Lego robotics club.
This fall, Newburgh Creates is running two First Lego League (FLL) competitive teams, one non-competitive Lego robotics club, and one First Tech Challenge (FTC) team.
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE (FLL)
FLL is an opportunity for students to learn about robotics and have fun doing it. FLL engages students in the age range of 9-14 years old. FLL is a great opportunity to learn skills in engineering, programming, problem solving, public speaking, critical thinking, and teamwork. FLL team members also have the opportunity to take part in a research and innovation project.
FIRST TECH CHALLENGE (FTC)
FIRST Tech Challenge (Grades 7–12) is an advanced robotics team where students engage with custom robot builds, Java coding with a specialized software development kit (SDK), and competitive tournaments ultimately leading to the FIRST world championships. FTC team members compete head to head by designing, building, and programming a robot to play a game against other teams. In addition to programming and mechanical and electrical engineering, FTC provides an opportunity to learn about industry-standard CAD and CAM software (Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing) as well as 3D Printing and automated CNC machining techniques.
FIRST Tech Challenge is recognized by colleges and technology companies around the world as a highly valuable and unique STEAM learning experience. It's is a highly-valued extracurricular activity for college applications. FIRST also provides a number of different scholarship opportunities for students applying to college.
FTC fills a critical gap in the STEAM pipeline and acts as a bridge from LEGO-based robotics in FIRST LEGO League to the highly complex engineering of FIRST Robotics Competition, giving students a chance to grow their skills step by step.
Programs like FTC are workforce incubators: they cultivate the creative problem-solvers, coders, and collaborative thinkers that industries from healthcare to aerospace to green energy will rely on in the decades ahead. It’s more than robotics competition, it’s training ground for the economy of the future.
Summer Camps
Over the summer, we ran a series of STEAM-based programs over an 8-week period for children of various ages, and we plan to run many additional programs in summers to come. The programs covered many exciting areas including:
- Robotics
- Electronics
- Game development with Python, Scratch, and Roblox
- Coding
- Design Thinking
- 3D Printing and Design
- Microcontrollers like the BBC Microbit and the Arduino Nano
Digital Literacy and Tech Foundations Classes
We are planning to start offering technology and computer classes at Newburgh Creates as soon as possible. It looks like these programs will begin in January of 2026. Stay tuned for more info!