Fwd: Maker Connection: Omaha Makers & Project Invent

[Sarah Kladstrup]

Would anyone be interested in being the point person for this? You would need to be responsible for opening the space, coordinating things, etc. Also, for the safety of everyone, the board insists that there is always a second adult on-site, so realistically, we'll need two or more members for this.

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From: Kerry Hynes <ke...@projectinvent.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 12:19 PM
Subject: Maker Connection: Omaha Makers & Project Invent
To: <in...@omahamakergroup.org>

Hi there!

My name is Kerry, and I used to run a Makerspace program in NYC but now am a member  at Project Invent. We are a nonprofit organization that provides programming for youth to build inventions for social good. To give a brief glimpse into Project Invent: our students have built things like watches with functions to help reduce anxiety, adapted video game controllers for people with mobility differences, camera systems to monitor pollinators in gardens, and more!

It's exciting because as we try to get as many students in middle and high school age brackets to engage in this type of learning, over the past few years we've been able to add Maker communities into our program. It's been pretty exciting to watch students grow in creative spaces outside of their school! (Here is an example of a Maker program story from Washington as an example!)

We are currently connecting with new sites for the 2023-2024 school year, and we are hoping to involve more makerspaces! Having run one myself, I know that spaces have varying styles of community participation and may host open sessions rather than programming- but I wanted to share our Fellowship program with you in case it would make sense at Omaha Makers or provide opportunities for you to expand!  

To give you some logistics, typically, an educator, makerspace coordinator, or community member will join us for a summer training experience, and then recruit a team of students in the Fall or for our Spring model. Together they will pair up with a Community Partner and create prototypes that will provide real impact and benefit their community.  Through the Fellowship, we support teams with 1:1 coaching, competitive events, and expert volunteer connections as they travel from idea to prototype.

Please let me know if any of your staff members or community members may be interested in stepping into a youth mentorship role, with our support!  I love to be as transparent as possible in sharing these opportunities, so please don't hesitate to ask any questions. 

If you would like to chat, here is my calendar where we can find a time- or I am happy to email back and forth if you want to learn more! 

I hope that you have a lovely weekend and thanks for taking the time to check this out! 

Kerry 

Kerry Hynes Partnerships & Recruitment Manager Project Invent ke...@projectinvent.org Empowering the next generation of fearless problem solvers. Learn more at projectinvent.org

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