Within a week of coordinating and supporting Salmon Public Library‘s first ever professional development workshop, participating educators began reaching out to Maker VISTA members Francesca Bessey and Jesse Hunt to collaborate on maker activities at their sites. These collaborations made October a whirlwind of school visits, project planning, outreach emails and debriefs. The surge in […]

Last month at ReCreate saw the closing out of one Maker VISTA member’s service, and the transitioning of her projects to a newer Maker VISTA member. The transition process raised some important questions and ideas around sustainability, documentation, and program growth. As Maker VISTA member Shubha prepared to conclude her service term, her year-long documentation materials were invaluable not […]

Over the last month at Grass Valley Elementary in Oakland, CA, Maker VISTA members Ignacia and Dylan have started facilitating students’ individual project work, and have started to implement a system so that all of the participating students can schedule specific time to work in the school’s makerspace, the Wonder Workshop. Some of the projects […]

Fall has already been super busy for Maker VISTA members Blair McAvoy and Brandon Jackson at Computers4Kids (C4K) in Charlottesville, VA. After spearheading a major (and impressive!) overhaul of the clubhouse’s organizational system for tools and materials over the summer, Blair spent much of September and early October shifting gears from workspace to showcase, designing […]

Maker VISTA members Ignacia Ojeda and Dylan Campbell kicked off the new school year at Grass Valley Elementary in Oakland, CA by organizing a making event during back to school night. Hosted in the school’s makerspace, The Wonder Workshop, the event served to welcome students into the space and included an after-school slime making session […]

At STE(A)M Truck in Atlanta, GA, Maker VISTA members Jamera Jones and Lauren Schramm were thrown into the maker experience right away – and things have not not gotten dull yet! Their first major project involved planning and supporting the organization’s largest fundraising event, a gala to take place the first week October. Jamera and […]

Picture a room brimming with maker gadgets: LEGO robots, drones, cardboard cutting tools, circuit thread, codable toddler toys, DIY computer games, straws, play-Doh, toilet paper tubes, aluminum foil and more. Maker VISTA members Francesca Bessey and Jesse Hunt transformed this small meeting space into an interactive “play room” for teachers attending a STEAM workshop at […]

Maker VISTA members Claire Tiffany-Appleton and Anna Milada Grossi, serving at Lodestar and Lighthouse respectively, had the opportunity to kick off their service year together with a hands-on making activity. They were invited to collaborate on the creation of a “Maker Bar” at Oakland International High School. They visited the school in August and discussed […]

September at ReCreate in Roseville, CA marked Maker VISTA member Trina Lafata’s first month of service – and Maker VISTA member Shubha Arehalli’s second-to-last month of service. Shubha’s greatest challenge this month was organizing all of the documentation she had done over the past year and handing it off to Trina. That’s a ton of […]

This month, Maker VISTA members Carey Habiger and Lyna Abal kicked off making with San Fernando Middle School’s first ever Maker Ed elective class for 7th and 8th graders! Over the summer, Lyna collaborated with first time maker teachers to come up with a curriculum that best suited teacher, student, and school needs. Once school […]