HAMMOND | When the Challenger Learning Center of Northwest Indiana welcomes back students and teachers later this month, it will do so with a major technological upgrade thanks to a federal grant and joint carpenter and electrical apprenticeship programs.

Because the grant does not cover installations, the space science education center's board enlisted the help of the Indiana-Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Apprentice workers are donating hours of carpentry and electrical work installing, among other things, new and larger flat-screen monitors to replace the original ones in place since the center, located on the Purdue University Calumet campus, opened in 1999.

"It's a huge project," said Margie DeCraene, lead flight director and instructor at Challenger. "They're donating their time, and we're paying for small material costs such as screws and mounting brackets."

Challenger Executive Director Amanda Maynard said the time the workers donate will probably save the center thousands of dollars.

"For a nonprofit, that's a really large chunk of change," she said. "If we're touting ourselves as a science, technology, engineering and math facility, we need to have state-of-the-art equipment and maintain that look, and we're going to look really great."

Carpenter apprentice instructor Andy Katzmarek said the workers enjoy being out in the field and away from the classroom setting.

"I think the apprentices after they see what is being done and what it's for that it is definitely a good thing," he said.

The Challenger Learning Center reopens Aug. 30.