We asked Windy Orviss, a teacher at Connect Community Charter School in Redwood City, and Ian Spiro, a local father and tinkerer who works at Google, to tell us about what they are looking forward to with the Makerspace opening, and how they foresee the Redwood City community making the most of this new library resource.
Windy is looking forward to introducing the Makerspace to her students, who are primarily from low-income families. “At school, I focus on project-based learning, where the kids do various creative projects to acquire deeper knowledge and learn how to collaborate with each other. I have a makeshift fab lab, which is just a closet full of stuff accumulated over the years. I’m excited about the kids being able to use the Makerspace with state-of-the-art equipment and I hope it motivates them to explore further and solve challenges.”
Ian is keen on seeing the space as a creative outlet for members of the community. “It’s satisfying to use maker tools to create solutions for the little problems in your life, for example, an organizer tray for a game with many small pieces. It’s fun to make utterly bespoke things for your friends and family.”
Windy, as a Girl Scout leader, intends to show her troop around the new Makerspace to help them earn their STEM badges. “I’m looking forward to bringing the kids here on a field trip. What a great way to engage younger students and open their eyes to future careers they may not even be thinking about!”
Ian and Windy both have great ideas to help our community get started with using the Library Makerspace. Ian says “I’d like to see some easy, customizable starter projects to help people succeed. How about laser cut thermometers to test our superlative climate?” Windy would love to see classes, like robotics, sewing or 3D printing, available to the community. “The library can introduce skills and access to equipment and tools that many parents in the community could not otherwise afford.”
Many thanks to all the members of our Makerspace Community Advisory Group for helping to promote & fundraise for this project!