MINI MAKER FAIRE
John Umekubo, Director of Social Entrepreneurship
On October 19, WNS hosted our second annual Mini Maker Faire. With ten stations to choose from, children in grades 3 - 5 from throughout Los Angeles navigated the maze of opportunities in our STEAM corridor to laser cut hand-drawn art, code robots, work with power tools, build cardboard creations, and engage in virtual reality. Map in hand, students explored the various stations, collecting stickers along the way as they completed each activity. Participants coded custom robots using the Hummingbird Robotics platform and the SNAP! programming language. They designed 3D models using Tinkercad. They visited far-off lands and outer space through Google Expeditions and painted in a 3600 virtual world with Oculus Quest. They made custom artwork using power tools and wood burnishers, converted hand-drawn designs into laser-cut backpack tags, and programmed LEGO robots to navigate an obstacle-filled landscape. Teacher, student, and parent volunteers helped to facilitate our maker stations. We were joined by our friends from the reDiscover Center who ran the woodworking station in our Maker Court, working alongside our own ACE faculty. We welcomed approximately 100 children, with many parents in tow. We look forward to next year, with more engaging activities, new technologies, and further opportunities to dive into creativity!
TheJetway
WINTER 2019
17