Making Spaces Program 2021 – Cohort 1
Decatur Makers is thrilled to announce that we have kicked off our Making Spaces program designed to develop local leadership around maker-centered learning for youth in Georgia!
And we’re even more excited to share the amazing teams of educators that have joined Cohort 1:
- Global Village Project,
- The DeKalb County Public Library System (supported by the DeKalb Library Foundation), and
- Renfroe Middle School (City Schools of Decatur.)
The Making Spaces Program is a 30-month professional learning and capacity building program that empowers K12 educators to incorporate maker-led education and build the foundation for long-term, embedded change in three core areas: pedagogy, community, and culture, with an emphasis on sustainability + growth.
Making Spaces employs a regional hub model, where multiple schools/organizations in the same area partner with a nearby Regional Hub (such as Decatur Makers in Georgia). These Hubs provide the schools/organizations with support through professional development and community-building to spark and sustain maker-centered learning experiences. This program is based on the power of communities, so Making Spaces links systems of support for educators to network and share successes that transform youth experiences through making for the long-term.
The national Making Spaces program is led by Maker Ed with support from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (CMP) and has an ambitious goal to sustainably integrate making into learning environments across the country. As highlighted in the map above, the MakerEd Making Spaces program, which began in 2016, currently has 5 cohorts made up of over 30 hub organizations including museums, libraries, and makerspaces.
At the national level, Maker Ed provides resources and professional training, and cultivates a growing network of support that Regional Hubs and schools use as a foundation for planning and implementation. The result is sustained integration of making into schools and educational spaces across the country.
As the Georgia hub, Decatur Makers is empowering educators in our community to build excitement for making and address equity and access to create the most meaningful experiences possible. Whatever their vision and goals with integrating making into their environments (whether it’s building out a makerspace, hosting a Maker Faire, incorporating making into their classroom curriculum, or other ways), the schools/organizations are supported by us to inspire young people to become innovators, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, and problem solvers through hands-on experiential learning.
Is your school or organization interested in more info or wanting to apply for this program? Contact Jennifer Morrison, our Manager of Youth Programming and Outreach, at [email protected].