Benito Library and Makerspace

School makerspaces are front and center at Gulf Coast MakerCon.  Benito MakerSpace at Benito Middle School in Tampa is one of the newest, and Media Specialist Sundi Pierce took some time to tell us about it.

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We’re excited about being a part of the Gulf Coast MakerCon.

Benito MakerSpace is a new program at Benito Middle School where students get together to learn about new technologies and create projects of their own design. We have had anywhere from 30 to 60 students at our MakerSpace meetings each Monday after school. The students spent the first semester learning about 3D Printing, Lego Mindstorm robotics, Rapsberry Pi and computer coding. This semester they have split into groups and are working on projects of their choosing. We have a group doing a perler bead project, a pinball machine, an arcade and more.

Makerspaces are part of a growing movement of hands-on, mentor-led learning environments to make and remake the physical and digital worlds. They foster experimentation, invention, creation, and exploration through design thinking and project-based learning. The movement aligns with President Obama’s Educate to Innovate initiative and his call to “think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering [and]…encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.” (Obama, 2009)
– Institute of Museum and Library Services | Talking Points: Museums, Libraries andMakerSpaces June 2014

My vision for the Benito Makerspace is to have a place to engage our students in the culture of making. I believe this will help our students become more involved in school and help them enjoy the learning process.

(For Gulf Coast MakerCon) we are bringing our arcade machine, a Makey Makey controlled Nintendo game and our perler bead project. People stopping at our booth will be able to play the arcade and the Nintendo game. They will also be able to talk to our students about the MakerSpace.

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Come meet these great Young Makers at Gulf Coast MakerCon 2015, and see the future being made right before your eyes!  Discounted Early Bird tickets are available through March 31st.