Makerspace partners with innovative learning festival
Published 06.03.2024
The Dr. Welch Workshop: A Makerspace at Penn College partnered recently with Remake Learning Days, an innovative learning festival for families and youth. A professional development workshop for public school educators was offered on May 15, and an open maker night for families was available on May 16.
“The makerspace was excited to be part of this opportunity, as we have been pursuing ways for the makerspace to be more of a resource for the community, particularly in the summer when we are not as heavily used by the Penn College community,” said Kat A. Valentine, manager of makerspace operations. “It was also a great opportunity to help spread the word about Penn College to the next generation of young makers and to help people’s creativity take shape.”
Penn College was connected with Remake Learning Days through BLaST Intermediate Unit 17, according to Valentine. She added that the weeklong initiative was observed across the state “where there were tons of opportunities for school-age children and their families to pursue learning in a way that was both fun and family-based rather than school-based.”
She explained that the May 16 “maker night” was unstructured, encouraging people to pursue their own projects (with assistance from staff as needed) or to select a “maker prompt” from a card deck if the visitors needed a cue to get their creativity flowing.
More information on Penn College’s Dr. Welch Workshop is available on its site.