This is the second in a series of blog posts written by Cathy Iverson, the library tech at St.Luke and St. Anthony schools – she is certainly the glue that has brought us together and made the MakerFaire happen!

 

As a follow-up to my last Blog post, St. Anthony Makerspace: Our Seven Top Tools!

I’d like to tell you about our incredibly successful, first ever, Mini Maker Faire!!!

 

On April 30th, we finally saw our much anticipated MakerFaire come to life. After weeks and countless hours of planning sessions, tweaking schedules, texts, Tweets, and emails, the day was ours and We rocked IT!

 

Our grade 5/6’s here at St. Anthony were asked to break into committees to help facilitate this epic day. Well, they certainly “rose to the occasion” and were instrumental in making this the success it was. Thanks to their teachers for all their patience and support during this time, the students outdid themselves on so many levels:)

 

As the buses arrived there was a buzz in the air. Both the Kitigan Zibi and St-Luke Ottawa students were welcomed at the main entrance by a giant banner and our Welcoming Committee, who led them to the gym where each student was given a lanyard with their name, school and top 3 activities for the day. After a few welcoming words from our Principal, Paul McGuire, one of our main organizers, Reg McCulley, gave the students instructions on how the day would proceed.

 

It was then time to start the Demos in the gym.  Students were transitioned from demo to demo so as to not create any gridlock at one particular station. An amazing music Playlist,  chosen by one of our student committees, added to the excitement and anticipation.

 

Here’s a list of what we had going on:

 

Jeff Ross/Raspberry Pi/ Minecraft servers

Minecraft Master Game Designer

Activity Station

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luc Lalande, 3D Printing/Minecraft “Creepers”

Minecraft and 3D Printing Station

Demo and Activity station

 

 

Marlaina Loveys Lego Bristlebots and Mazes

Activity Station

 

Rick Alexanderson (St-Peter High School) CARL Robot demo

Demo

 

 

Alison Evans Adnani Makey Makey

Demo

 

 

 

Luke Van Shaik and Brittini Ogden LED paper airplanes

Activity Station

 

 

St-Anthony grade 5/6 student-led Demo Committee – Dash and Sphero Robots

Demo

 

At 12:30 all the students were sent outside to enjoy a pizza lunch under a bright sunny sky. (Thank you Tracey Crowe of University of Ottawa, you are fabulous!!) They stayed outside for an extra 15 minutes to get some air, shoot some hoops, play a little ball hockey and mingle.

 

After this nice break they moved on to the “hands-on” portion of the day and started on their pre-selected activities.  Discoveries were made, “Wow” moments were plentiful and opportunities to collaborate with students from other schools were now a reality.

 

To add to my St-Anthony MakerSpace: Top Seven Tools. here are my Top Ten Rules for a Successful MakerFaire:

1. Network – Get out there and find like-minded innovators)

2. Communicate –  Find a suitable platform. We used Asana or Google

3. Committees (Empowering students is a Powerful tool).

4. Delegate – Divide and conquer. (People WANT to help. Let them)

5. Find Sponsors to help with funding.

6. Know your physical space limitations.

7. Enlist your best organizer (Reg McCulley, you KNOW you are!!)

8. Always have a plan B

9. Food – Kids like food.

10. Pray 🙂

 

I would consider this event a monumental success. The students enjoyed it, learned from it and were empowered by it.  There couldn’t possibly be more criteria for success than that.

Thank you Paul, for your innovative  spirit, because ultimately, without you, this would never have happened.

 

It really does “take a village…”

Just had to add this little video – some of the highlights of the day

 

Cathy Iverson

Library Technician

white-space: pre-wrap;”>St Luke Ottawa/ St. Anthony