Six Northwest Arkansas schools seek money for making

Six Northwest Arkansas schools launched fundraising campaigns this week to offer students more of a "maker" education.

The schools are seeking more than $50,000 combined for everything from sandpaper to 3-D printers -- tools and material students can use to tinker, build, explore and experiment. That kind of hands-on work is what maker education is about.

Making Spaces: Expanding Maker Education Across the Nation is a program where participating schools are paired with a nearby hub -- in Northwest Arkansas' case, the Scott Family Amazeum in Bentonville -- that provides the schools with guidance, professional development and support to create and sustain maker education in classrooms.

The Amazeum's six partner schools are Old High Middle School, Washington Junior High School and Willowbrook Elementary in Bentonville; Arkansas Arts Academy in Rogers; J.O. Kelly Middle School in Springdale; and The New School in Fayetteville.

The program is supported by Google's Making & Science, the Maker Education Initiative and the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. The Amazeum was one of 10 family learning facilities in the country chosen to help plan and create maker spaces for schools.

"A vital part of that process is learning to do the fundraising part of it," said Dana Engelbert, the Amazeum's marketing manager. "You can't just dream the dream. You have to make the dream come true."

Amazeum officials have instructed the schools on setting up crowd-funding campaigns. Each school has a page on GoFundMe.com featuring photos and videos explaining how it plans to use its money. Those pages will be active through March 6, Engelbert said.

Donors had pledged a combined $2,235 to the schools as of late afternoon Wednesday.

Having a maker space "helps kids be really invested in their learning and get excited about coming to school," said Tobie Taylor Jones, a sixth-grade math teacher at Old High Middle School.

Some Old High students were engaged in maker activities Wednesday. Evan Beckcom and Evan Jackson, both 11, were busy making an airplane out of wood and Styrofoam.

Time allotted for these kinds of activities, where students pursue subjects and projects that interest them, is Evan Jackson's favorite part of school, he said.

"Tinkering is fun," Evan Jackson said. "Tinkering is probably one of the funnest things about school, actually."

Old High already established a "climate of makers" with a few shared tools and recycled supplies, according to its GoFundMe page.

"With a dedicated place for our Makerspace, students' individual interests and skill sets will flourish," the page states.

The page lists 3-D printers, a baking center, hand tools and robotic equipment among the things Old High would buy with the money it raises.

Washington Junior High School plans a "maker library" where teachers can come and check out material to use in their classrooms, said Carrie Beach, a science and technology teacher at the school.

"A lot of teachers here want to do making in their classrooms," Beach said. "With this GoFundMe money, we'd be able to do so many more projects than they can right now."

Kelly Middle School, which has 780 students in grades six and seven, has set the highest fundraising goal among the Northwest Arkansas schools at $15,000. Sara Ford, principal, said she hopes to raise that amount within six weeks.

About 89 percent of the school's students come from poverty and 65 percent are English language learners. Those demographics don't define what the school's students will become, the school's GoFundMe page states.

"With your help the students of JO Kelly Middle School will now have opportunities that they would not have otherwise," the page states. "You are creating inventors, explorers, designers, and discoveries that will change the world."

Creativity and exploration are big parts of the learning process, Ford said.

"What we're really interested in is thinkers and makers and kids who believe in their problem-solving skills and creativity," she said. "Hopefully this will go along with things they're learning in their classrooms and enhance that."

NW News on 02/09/2017