Editor’s Note: This story was written by students in COMM 2311.001 on the Levelland campus. Students conducted a group interview with Dr. Sheyleah Harris-Plant to gather information about the recently renovated study space inside the Math and Engineering building on the Levelland campus. Students include: Conner Duncan, Nealeigh Burrow, Miabella Rosa, Marley Nix, Cale Horton, and Gregselda Castillo.
A $100,000 grant from Google has transformed South Plains College’s former Maker Space into the newly renovated Google Garage.
The Google Garage is located in the Mathematics and Engineering building on the Levelland campus. It was recently renovated to accommodate new technologies and resources for students.
A decade ago, Room 122 was converted into a Maker Space. The idea to create the new space was inspired by a group of students after visiting a Google campus in California. The students wanted to create a space for students to creatively think and innovate at SPC. This past fall, the space was officially rebranded as the Google Garage.
“It’s their space,” said Dr. Sheyleah Harris-Plant, chairperson of mathematics, engineering and computer science at SPC. “It’s a place where students sit and think without a teacher necessarily walking in and causing drama and consternation.”
It is now a study space where students are equipped with tools that allow them to visualize their work and take it with them. Unlike a traditional computer lab, the Google Garage does not house desktop computers. Instead, students bring their own laptops and use features such as writable tables, large whiteboards and a CleverTouch interactive display, which is basically a touchscreen TV with an Android interface.
As exams approach, the space often fills with students working through advanced math, physics and engineering problems. The open layout allows students to spread out complex work.
“You can waste three, four, five pieces of paper on one question,” Harris-Plant said. “Here, they have the whole room to write everything they’re doing.”
Faculty members can see into the glass-walled room and sometimes step in briefly when students appear stuck.
“Sometimes they don’t even go find the tutors,” Harris-Plant said. “They just sit there and try to figure it out themselves. If we see them struggling, we’ll step in.”
The Google Garage was made possible through a $100,000 grant by Google, initiated by a former student, Kevin Dane, who is now vice president of technical infrastructure hardware quality at Google. Dane knew about the grant and helped connect Google to the college.
“Google has a program where they will give money to schools that will apply for a grant,” Harris-Plant, said.
Harris-Plant said the success of the Google Garage is not measured by test scores but by the development of communication and collaboration skills.
“There are soft skills that we are trying to instill,” Harris-Plant said. “You have to be able to communicate together and disagree civilly.”
Harris-Plant said industry partnerships and workforce demands are increasing interest in STEM programs, making collaborative learning spaces more important.
“STEM is where your jobs are coming from,” Harris-Plant said. “AI is going to take a lot of jobs, but somebody has to fix AI when it breaks.”
For now, the Google Garage serves students who want to solve problems together, reinforcing both technical skills and the collaborative habits needed beyond the classroom.
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