Decatur Makers Named Regional Hub in National MakerEd Program

Decatur Makers is growing its support of educators working with K-12 students, after being accepted as a regional hub in the national MakerEd Making Spaces program. The program, supported by Cognizant and Google, is a Research Practice Partnership led by MakerEd and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (CMP) with educational institutions across the nation. Its goal is to sustainably incorporate making into learning environments across the country.

Decatur Makers has joined the fourth cohort of Making Spaces hubs as the first participant in Georgia, and the third in the Southeast. During this 30-month program, they aim to sustainably incorporate maker-led education into schools and other organizations supporting K-12 education – whether it’s individual activities, programs, or spaces – through professional development, planning and funding support, and evaluation processes.

By educating with a maker-centered approach focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math (STEAM), problem solving and critical thinking are enhanced, and students and teachers become more collaborative, engaged, excited by new projects and willing to try new things, which helps students become more active change-makers in our communities.

Next steps for the local Decatur community will include outreach to community organizations to establish a cohort and plan for the fall pilot kick-off. Stay tuned to follow our progress!