Le Roy High School opened its new maker space for students yesterday afternoon with some introductory information from Jennifer Bertrand, instructional technology coach, and some hands-on time with some of the materials already in the space, including Legos and Bloxel, a kit for making computer games.
Bertrand said she proposed the idea of maker spaces at the high school and elementary school in Le Roy because she saw other schools doing it and attended conferences where ideas for starting such spaces were presented.
"So I thought Le Roy really needs to get on board about having its own maker space," she said.
A committee was formed to help move the idea forward and the district received a $2,000 grant to help get the maker space up and running.
Students volunteer to participate in the extracurricular activity. They are given space, time, resources and instruction on creating a variety of projects that hit on science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), creativity, and problem-solving.
"If you have a student who is struggling academically or just doesn't like school, but, oh, man, they're so creative when it comes to engineering or when it comes to creating something, we want to tap into that and build on that because those skills are going to transfer everywhere in their life," Bertrand said.
The community can support the project through donations, especially of supplies, such as Legos and arts and crafts supplies, as well as expertise and tours. Bertrand said community members can contact the school if they're able to assist.
