Start with a trash can.
The City Avenue campus has opened a brand new makerspace this year. We are grateful to have a new place to call home (with supplies! and plenty of storage space for projects! and new tools!) and...
View ArticleLessons from our first design challenge
Our first STEAM design challenge of the year was to: “Dress” the window areas in order to make people feel curious about & welcomed in the makerspace. It was a fun project, and the projects...
View ArticleMakerspace Founders Logo
As we continue breaking in the newly opened makerspace, one way we have decided to invite the community in is by offering workshops! The program for the makerspace workshops is as follows: Every other...
View ArticleIdeation is Improvisation
If you’ve ever studied acting or improvisation, you are probably familiar with the “Yes, and…” exercise. In this activity, participants are asked to have a free-flowing conversation with the only...
View ArticleMaking metaphors
Twelve or thirteen years ago, as I sat in the Meeting Room as a student at Friends’ Central myself, Bill Kennedy stood up to share a message in Meeting for Worship. His message left an impression, and...
View ArticleMakerspace cookbook
You’re invited! Any time the door is open (note: link only works properly when you’re on campus), students, faculty, staff, parents, and alums are all welcome to come down to the makerspace to learn...
View ArticleA Bigger Tent
The STEAM blog is now the FCS makerspace blog. Wondering why? We started a STEAM program, and three years later, we’ve outgrown the acronym. Here’s how it happened: Start with design: The hated...
View ArticleA Simple Microscope for Smart Devices
What is it? The device I built is a microscope designed for cameras like those that exist on smart devices (like an iPhone). The idea is that one could place their camera device (most likely a...
View ArticleFCS seniors presenting at Maker Faire
It’s an exciting time for the makerspace! The 2015-2016 school year is off to an exciting start. Seniors Catherine Barbour, Naomi Detre, and Georgia Fossett are presenting with BC at World Maker Faire...
View ArticleSignificant Objects
FCS seniors Naomi, Catherine, and Georgia presented “Significant Objects” at World Maker Faire today. Their presentation offered snapshots of three projects that emerged from conversations in STEAM...
View Article3D Printed Button Battery Holder
I originally got the idea of making a button battery holder by identifying a need that someone else had. The need was that the button batteries were put into one of the bins. They were without order...
View ArticleBusy Making
“Dave, I think we’re going to have a really busy day today,” BC said. Our day had begun in the Makerspace and we were preparing for that day’s work. BC alerted me that it might be a nonstop day and...
View ArticleHack n’ Jam
Thank you all for a great Hack n’ Jam last weekend! We had participants from age 6 – 76, and people hacked some cool things into becoming musical instruments and then had a great jam session. Some...
View Article4 years in 2 minutes
Please enjoy this short video about the makerspace, the work our students have done, and the values that drive that work. Viewing suggestion: Watch once all the way through. Watch again and click on...
View ArticleBadgerPlug Replacement
What to do when the BadgerPlug insert (that plastic thingy you stick into the end of a roll of paper that helps suspend it in a dispenser) breaks. I recently ran across this when a student asked for...
View ArticleThe Importance of Growth in Making
By Dave Thomas “Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks by the hour.” (James Clear) So it can be said about the makerspace at Friends’ Central School. Should it be our expectation...
View ArticleMakerspace Founders Logo
As we continue breaking in the newly opened makerspace, one way we have decided to invite the community in is by offering workshops! The program for the makerspace workshops is as follows: Every other...
View ArticleIdeation is Improvisation
If you’ve ever studied acting or improvisation, you are probably familiar with the “Yes, and…” exercise. In this activity, participants are asked to have a free-flowing conversation with the only...
View ArticleMaking metaphors
Twelve or thirteen years ago, as I sat in the Meeting Room as a student at Friends’ Central myself, Bill Kennedy stood up to share a message in Meeting for Worship. His message left an impression, and...
View ArticleMakerspace cookbook
You’re invited! Any time the door is open (note: link only works properly when you’re on campus), students, faculty, staff, parents, and alums are all welcome to come down to the makerspace to learn...
View Article
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