In the final days of 2017, students, educators, and the Maker VISTA members of Grass Valley Elementary School in Oakland celebrated the culmination of their first-semester maker-centered learning unit with their very own ComiCon. As a marker of the impressive accomplishment of now having every classroom and student in the school engaged in making, the […]

The last months of 2017 were booming at Drew Charter School in Atlanta, capping off a first school semester that found Maker VISTA member Khalil Pettway facing challenges many maker educators face: enough work and responsibilities for at least two people, being done by one. For Khalil, making as the year wrapped up was less […]

As 2017 came to an end, Maker VISTA members Jamera Jones and Lauren Schramm worked towards strengthening their own maker skills, supporting program implementation, and exploring inventory management. Keeping storage space organized and supplies stocked has been an ongoing challenge at STE(A)M Truck, as with so many makerspaces or mobile making set-ups. The combination of limited […]

San Fernando Middle School’s Maker VISTA members Carey Habiger and Lyna Abal were heads-down and knee-deep working on a major grant application submission in December 2017. As the year was winding down, this VISTA team and their supervisor Toutoule Ntoya were ramping up their efforts to obtain a Career Technical Education Incentive Grant (CTEIG) from […]

By December 2017, Maker VISTA member Claire Tiffany-Appleton was able to see the Lodestar Lab Makerspace come to life. At the start of the school year, this space was a once-per-week pop-up in the Learning Lab led by Ms. Ortiz, one of the Making, Art, & Design teachers. In that iteration, the Lab did not […]

A lot of hard work came to fruition at the Salmon Public Library before the close of 2017, as the Maker VISTAs delved deeper into longer-term projects. Steadfast in her mission to get maker education into local preschools, this past month Maker VISTA member Francesca Bessey invited Salmon’s early childhood educators to join her for […]

Before the close of 2017, Maker VISTA member Trina Lafata devoted time and thought to managing youth volunteers, and in general, attempting to identify ways to bolster interest, investment and follow-through from volunteers over time. In the summer of 2017, ReCreate launched their first Maker Ambassadors program, wherein high school students served as volunteers and […]