Case Study: Inside the Mission-Powered Computer Lab

If you enter the computer lab of Cook Elementary School in Syracuse, Utah, you’ll feel the buzz of education. You’ll observe students collaborating. You’ll see students successfully failing and trying again. You’ll hear triumphant cheers as students outrun a tsunami, spy in the Revolutionary War, or successfully prevent a landslide.

Once a week, every class from kindergarten through sixth-grade files into the lab for a 45-minute (30-minute for kindergarten) interactive session that combines STEM, real-world problem-solving, storytelling, and gamification. At the center of it all is Lisa Free, the school’s Computer Lab Specialist, who has built her entire program around an innovative education technology program called Mission.io.

“This is the most engaging thing we do at our school,” Free says. “I don’t know anything more engaging than this.”

For Free, Mission.io isn’t an add-on. It’s the foundation of her instruction — and after five years, she’s developed a seamless way to coordinate with teachers, support the core curriculum, and make every student feel like a problem-solving hero.

Building the Bridge Between Lab and Classroom

The secret to Free’s success isn’t just the program — it’s how she implements it. Each time a class comes to the lab, the classroom teacher receives a dedicated block of prep time. But Free ensures those minutes do more than just fill the schedule — they reinforce what students are learning in the classroom.

She tries to stay in frequent communication with classroom teachers, coordinating which Missions to run based on current lessons. Sometimes it's a quick chat in the hallway, other times it’s an email. “I try to stay as close to what they’re covering in class as I can,” Free says. “I’ll ask grade-level teams what they are currently teaching in math or science, and I’ll pull Missions that align with those topics.”

Mission.io has a library of 100+ standards-aligned and hyper-engaging Missions for Grades K-8, so there are plenty of Missions to choose from across grade levels and content areas. Her goal is to make sure the Mission.io experience feels connected — immediately and explicitly — to classroom learning. And when it works, students let her know.

“My favorite thing is when a student blurts out, ‘We’re learning this in class!’” she says with a smile. “That’s the point. It shows them this isn’t just a one-and-done subject — it matters.”

That level of alignment is no small feat at a school like Cook Elementary, where Mission.io is run at scale. In the 2024-2025 school year alone, the program reached 687 students and involved 718 unique Missions. Cook Elementary runs more Missions a year than any other school in Mission.io’s current user base.

What a Mission Looks Like

Each Mission follows a tight, replicable structure. Free sees every class in the school once a week — typically three or four classes per grade — and selects Missions based on the standards teachers are currently targeting in math, science, ELA, or social studies. For older students, she often splits a Mission over two weeks, especially for more involved writing or design-based collaborative challenges. Younger students can typically complete theirs in a single session.

Here’s how a typical 45-minute Mission unfolds:

• Minutes 0–5: Students log in with a simple four-digit code projected onto the main screen and sit with their assigned teams (if applicable). Then, Free clicks “Start Mission,” and the briefing explains the high-stakes problem that students will need to solve that day. It could be anything from creating a top-secret extraction plan using patterns of information transfer to protecting an overheating robot from the sun’s warming effect using engineering skills.
• Minutes 5–40: Students work through challenges, analyze data, make choices, and collaborate. With younger students, Free leads the experience more directly; for older grades, she shifts into more of a coaching role. “I expect more from them as they get older,” she says. “They need to work together and take ownership.” Her go-to reminder: “Use your eyes, ears, and brains!”
• Minutes 40–45: The class wraps with a quick debrief as time allows. Free projects the class’s collective results and prompts discussion about what worked, what didn’t, and what they learned from that day’s Mission. The class can also see how they performed on the Mission compared to other schools across the nation via the leaderboard. Students track their individual performance using journals, logging scores, and reflecting on their performance. “They want to know how they’re doing,” Free says. “They care.”

Coordination That Pays Off

The collaboration with classroom teachers doesn’t stop after the Mission. Free sends interested teachers post-Mission and/or regular progress reports with performance data, highlighting areas of strength and struggle. “Some teachers really value it,” she says. “They review the reports with their class and factor them into their science and math grades.”

That level of investment changes everything. “If a teacher sees this as just prep time, then you’re just babysitting. Kids pick up on that. But when they know their teacher is going to look at the results, they perform better. They care more.”

Teachers who take a more hands-on approach — using the Mission as a formative assessment or fodder for future class discussions — see stronger transfer of learning. One example came after a 5th grade class ran a Mission called Root of the Problem, where teams diagnose issues in various tree types and propose solutions using paragraph writing skills. “Their paragraphs were, for the most part, stellar,” Free recalls. “And most students were more engaged than the other 5th-grade classes that did this Mission. I talked to their teacher afterward—not only to praise this class—but to find out the difference. Evidently, she had spent the past week drilling them on paragraph writing. So, I think the difference was that they had a better foundation and knew what to do, which led to more participation and fewer problems. This teacher was THRILLED for the reinforcement on something they'd worked so hard on and so pleased to hear they had done so well.”

Cook Elementary’s approach shows that even when Mission.io is being facilitated in a computer lab compared to the classroom, alignment with instruction is still possible — and powerful.

Motivation that Works

To keep students motivated, Free created the RALFie Awards, a system that rewards performance and effort. Students who score 70% or higher over a term receive a printed certificate and a small prize; those scoring above 80% or 90% unlock even better rewards. The namesake comes from one of the program’s beloved robot characters — RALF — who students grow attached to over time. “They get into the characters,” Free says. “They know RALF. They talk about Ziggy. They’re totally invested in the whole program.”

The incentive system isn’t about competition — it’s about consistency. “I throw out any data where I know it’s skewed, like if the internet crashed,” she explains. “It’s not about perfection. It’s about engagement and growth.”

Equity at the Center

One of Free’s core beliefs is that Mission.io should be for everyone — not just top-performing students or those in special programs. “This isn’t the gifted and talented program,” she says firmly. “Every single student in our school gets to do this. And that’s the beauty of it. It’s an equalizer. Every student has a chance to participate in this exciting and motivating experience — instead of a STEAM opportunity that is reserved for just a select group."

“It’s so doable for anyone, even students with 504 plans or IEPs,” she says. “The visual design, the storylines, the pacing — it works for all learners.” There’s even a running joke among families. “You can’t check your kid out when they have Mission lab,” one parent told her. “They’d be furious.”

Consistency Builds Impact

Free believes the biggest value comes from continuity. “The program is so much more effective when it’s done regularly,” she says. That consistency is clear in the numbers. Over the past five school years, Free has facilitated more than 3100 Missions, with students across all grade levels participating every single week. Students not only look forward to their time in the lab, but they also take real ownership of their growth.

“You hear murmurs — ‘Oh! We’re learning this!’ or ‘Bro, we just did this in class!’ — and that’s when you know it’s clicking,” Free says. “They’re making the connection. And that’s everything.” She’s especially proud of how much responsibility students take for their learning. From actively collaborating and problem-solving during the Mission to tracking progress in journals, they’re invested.

Final Word

Now in her fifth year of full implementation, Free has no plans to change direction. “This is the most fun they have all week — and they’re learning the whole time. I’m not going back.”

Cook Elementary’s results speak for themselves: aligned instruction, equity in access, and hundreds of students each year who can’t wait to go on their next Mission.