Request to Visit - Collinsville & Fairmont City Libraries (IL)

[Kyla Waltermire]

Hi there,

Last spring I spoke with Gene Jordan about arranging a visit to Arch Reactor through a grant my library district was applying for.  Although it took much longer than expected to arrive, we did receive word early this year that the grant was approved.

What the visit would entail is a group of teenagers (roughly ages 12-18) from Collinsville and Fairmont City, IL who will be brought to the maker lab and hopefully be able to work on a project while there.  Gene and I didn't discuss specifics beyond that, and we're open to ideas.  What we're limited on, though, is the timing: because of the grant's condensed timeline, the visit needs to take place in May.

Would you please contact me at your earliest convenience so we can discuss options?

Thank you,

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Frank Kallal]

Kyla,

That Sounds Great.  We are in the Middle of Moving to our New Location this Month, so Hopefully will be Fully settled in by May.  

I'm sure Gene or Morgan will Follow up with you to get something on the Calendar.

Frank

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[Morganism]

Hi Kyla,

There should be no problem putting something together by May. Does need to be in May or can it be before May? I will talk to Gene and get up to speed about your previous conversations. What kind of ideas are you thinking about?

-Morgan

[Gene J. (GeekTinker)]

Kyla,

Congratulations on being awarded a grant for your trip. I'm all for hosting your field trip in May. I'd like to showcase some of the fun tools we have at our space: the laser cutter, CNC machine, and the 3D printers. I'd also like to have a small soldering project for each student to complete, if possible. We can also show them the various tools in our workshop and what they might be used for. Depending upon how long the trip can last, we might be able to hold a small workshop with our littleBits. Other members may be available to demonstrate things they are making or have made, such as our telepresence robot and the color chasing pixy bots. They may be able to make something using the laser cutter, if there is enough time. Depending upon the size of the group, we could divide them up and let them work on different things at different times. I'd like to see demos of the Arduino microcontroller and the Raspberry Pi. Another possibility would be using computers to visit the website onehourofcode.org and let them do some basic programming.  I think we can fill up their time there and we should be able to allow you to cater in food for lunch if they stay long enough - or they can bring packed lunches.

I'll give you a call soon and we can start planning the details.

If any Arch Reactor members would like to volunteer to give demos or be there to give tours, please let me know by posting here.

Gene Jordan

[Kyla Waltermire]

Hi Gene,

I've copied Katie Heaton, branch manager of the Fairmont City Library Center, on this conversation.

We LOVE the ideas from your last email!  The only one we might set to the side is basic programming/One Hour of Code since we will be using a similar scenario in June and July for another grant-funded activity.  What days of the week work best for a visit (this will also determine how long we'll be able to visit)?

Thanks,

-Kyla

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Gene Jordan]

The best day would be a Saturday or Sunday, as more of our members would be available to help with demos. If it must be a weekday, then Tuesday is best, but any day would really work.

I'd like to steer clear of the first friday of the month, since we attend the Science Center's First Friday event. The Sunday after that is usually an open house. The second week, or mid to late in the month of May would be best.

We can look at our calendar (archreactor.org/calendar) to be sure there are no conflicts.

Gene

[Kyla Waltermire]

Looks like the best dates on our end are Saturday, May 14 and Saturday, May 21.  We're flexible with time of day and how long the visit will last.

Thanks,

-Kyla

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Gene Jordan]

I am going to suggest May 21st. Since we are just now getting moved into our new location, the longer we have to work on it, the better it will be for the students.

If we can have them arrive mid morning, we could give the tour first, then maybe one activity before breaking for lunch, then the afternoon could be filled with activities until they leave at the end of the day in time to get home.

That way, you can decide on the start and end times, based on your schedule.

Gene

[Kyla Waltermire]

That would be great!  Would 10:30-2 be an appropriate length of time for the activities we've discussed?

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Kyla Waltermire]

Hi again,

Our library schedules are filling fast and I want to be sure we get this on our calendars ASAP.  We've discussed Saturday, May 21 for the visit, but I haven't heard back yet if 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM is a reasonable length of time to cover the outlined projects.  We can adjust the times as needed; that's not a problem.  We are hitting crunch time for some of our grant report deadlines, though, so it'd be great if we could finalize our visit's details sooner rather than later.

Thanks,

-Kyla

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Gene Jordan]

Kyla,

10:30 am to 2 pm should be enough time. Will that include about a 30 minute break for lunch or will they be having a late lunch afterwards?

That will give them 3 hours of total time to get a quick tour, see any demonstrations from our members, and participate by making something on the laser cutter and/or a soldering workshop.

As a suggestion, I'm sure we could fill up another hour and have then stay until 3pm, if your schedule allows for it. That would have them back in Collinsville by 3:30pm.

Gene

[Kyla Waltermire]

Hi Gene,

We can certainly stay until 3:00, with the time including a 30-minute lunch break.

I don't think we've discussed yet whether or not there is a size limit for how many teens can attend.  If there is a cap, we'll need to know for registration and transportation arrangements.  Please let us know what group size you're comfortable with.

Thanks,

-Kyla

---

Kyla Waltermire

Branch Manager, Collinsville Memorial Library Center

Mississippi Valley Library District

408 West Main Street

Collinsville, IL 62234

P: (618) 344-1112 ext. 202

F: (618) 345-6401

[Frank Kallal]

Kayla,

Not to step on Gene's toes, but a quick Reference question in relation to your last question.  

If we were to say no Cap... How many could you feasibly Bring?  

We have a decently large new space, so sourcing people on our side is something we will need to look at as well to answer the "How many can come?" Question

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[Gene Jordan]

After speaking with Kyla today, we have decided to set the limit at a total of 30 students. Volunteer chaperones from the library will be joining them as well.
Lunch for the students and library staff/volunteers will be either brought from home or provided by the library.

I'm seeking about 6 to eight total volunteers from Arch Reactor Members (myself included) to be present for giving tours, demonstrations, and leading in hands on activities.

I would like to break the students up into 3 or 4 groups and then have each group rotate through each activity after a tour of AR.

I would like to have the 3D printers printing small items like robots or octopus that they can take home. I'd additionally like to see the laser cutter cutting something for them as well. Perhaps an item they can write or draw on with sharpies to customize for themselves. If we could print and cut some up some in advance, that will help with the timing, since the event is only about 4 hours long.

The pixie bots would be nice to have on display and one activity may be them experimenting with the littleBits.  I'd like to give them a small project to solder as well, such as an LED pin. The new Creative Meetup is welcome to give a demonstration or a hands on activity as well.

I am also seeking suggestions for more of those activities.

Let me know of your interest soon as we will be planning the details out within the following 2 weeks or so. Either respond here or send me a private message.

Gene

[Keith Rogers]

I could do a lathe demo where the kids could turn a little bit of aluminum and take home the piece as a keepsake.  

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[Frank Kallal]

what is the age Group there are Bringing?

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[Andrew Ricke]

I am free to attend that weekend and can help out.  

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[Gene Jordan]

Frank,

I believe the ages are 14 to 18.

Gene

[Jim S]

What about a small Arduino project for programming and/or soldering? Not sure what the budget is for this but the Uno is only about $6.  If they need a shield board for leds or other stuff that about doubles the price...

[Morganism]

Jim,

We actually have about a dozen or so Arduinos with breadboards. We also have brand new laptops to program and run them on. LEDs, wires, and components can come off our donation shelves. Just need someone with the know-how to run the station.

[Gene J. (GeekTinker)]

Kyla may not want the students to do much coding as they have another event planned during the summer for 1 hour of code / programming.

A demonstration of cool things the Arduino can do might spark some creativity though.

We can go into more details once we schedule a meeting to plan the event.

So far, the ideas I'm hearing are great.

Gene