Category Archives: Education

Education, maker spaces, Things to Do, Vermont Makers

Call For Makers and More!

Call for Makers! Register for this year’s Champlain Maker Faire!

Fill out your application here

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PreCollege and Professional Development Courses at UVM this summer! Register by June 15.

Summer Academy for High School Students

“Makers Academy” a precollege credited course is open to high school Juniors and Seniors. Funding available for Vermont Students.
Register by June 15. Learn More.fablab(1of1)

The Vermont Engineering Initiative – Making and Engineering Design for teachers and professionals

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Our goal is to empower teachers to successfully implement engineering design in the classroom in accordance with the Next Generation Science Standards. We offer training opportunities, community support and connection to the vibrant faculty, research and facilities of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. Register by June 15! Learn More

Education, innovation, STEAM, Things to Do

Exhibition: Break it! Build it! at Burlington City Arts Center

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Read the Burlington Free Press article

JULY 25 – SEPTEMBER 13, 2014

Opening Reception Friday July 25, 5-8pm

Taking BCA’s popular summer camp as its point of departure, Break It! Build It! is an exhibition focusing on artists who embody the DIY spirit. Artists in the exhibition break, crush, destroy, and manipulate everyday objects to build, invent, and create their work. From altered couches to hacked iPods and installations using raw construction materials, Break It! Build It! will challenge the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and examine the ways destruction may be a necessary component of construction.

The exhibition will also feature work by young artists that was created in this summer’s Break It! Build It! camps.

Artists Included : Christopher Abrams, Colin Brahmstedt, John Cohn, Maxwell Cohn, Eric Hall, Beatriz Herrera, Ken Howell, Jenn Karson, Keegan Kuvach, Kristin Rogers

Wednesday August 20th @ 6:30pm at BCA.:

Join artist Jenn Karson and BCA curator DJ Hellerman for an open, community dialogue about Critical Making and Burlington’s place in bridging the gap between creative physical and conceptual exploration.

Guided Tours Open to the Public:

Saturday, August 9, 12 – 1pm
Thursdays, August 14 and 21, 12-1 pm

Exhibition sponsored by Saint Michael’s College

Funded in part by a grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment For The Arts

Farrell Distributing, Harpoon Brewery and Fluid Bar Service are proud sponsors of BCA Center exhibitions and events

Awesomesauce, e-textiles, Education, maker spaces, STEAM, Things to Do, wearables, Workshops

STEAM-y Summer Library Programs! Meet our educators

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For Vermont Kids and Families
July + August 2014

This summer Vermont Makers and its partners are producing 28 programs at 14 Vermont libraries all across the state of Vermont! Programs for kids of all ages will showcase hands-on STEAM-y (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) projects.

Programs were created for middle school kids and older. Please preregister with participating libraries.

For the program schedule and descriptions of programs, visit STEAM-e-ZINE!

Meet our Educators:

Rebecca Schwarz works across disciplines to enrich health through art on individual, collective and Earth based levels. Her art is inspired by patterns in nature with technology as one more layer of patterning. She has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in sculpture and an MFA in interdisciplinary arts focused on community engaged art, teaching and ecological art. Rebecca teaches at Champlain College and coordinates Art from the Heart, connecting children, families and caregivers with play and creativity in the hospital. Her work can be seen at rebeccaschwarz.com.

Cecilia Telefus displayed a passion for technology from a young age and enrolled in her first class focusing on electricity at the age of 17. She went on to college to learn more about her passion and subsequently landed a job maintaining semiconductor fabrication and test equipment. Her lifelong interest led her to work in a wide variety of technical roles such as an electromagnetic effects lab technician, a professional pyro-technician, and most recently as a Product Support Analyst at a web solutions firm. As the daughter of an artist she is excited about the endless possibilities the Maker Movement will present for the fusing of two of her favorite interests.

Dayle Payne has been a teacher for almost thirty years, the last eight as a technology teacher at Georgia Elementary and Middle School. A self described joyous nerd, she loves dabbling in all things technology related. Special interests currently include eTextiles, laser cutting odd shapes for jewelry making and Arduino processing.

Lynn Motschman formalized her need to know how things work with a BS in architecture and engineering at Norwich University, but her real education came about raising four children with unbridled curiosity. Helping out in Vermont libraries’ STEAM-powered summer offerings seemed like a natural place to extend the excitement she felt working with her own kids and more recently, as a student herself in the U of Vermont FabLab. Lynn is really looking forward to meeting the next generation of makers and inventors, to see what they can teach her.

Jenn Karson
Bio

Beverly Ball is a long-time teacher of art, craft, welding & technology at Denver Academy where she established the Saipe Family Metal Arts Studio, the TinkerBelles girls’ maker club, and the schoolwide Craft/Tech/Art Lab. Her specialty lies in blending art-making, academics, skills and mischief.

Caleb Clark is the director of the EdTech master’s program at Marlboro College, where he also teaches and coordinates academic technology support. He has been a Web geek since 1994 and an educational technologist since 1999. Caleb’s interests include: eportfolios, online media production for teachers, physical computing, citizen journalism, and humanizing technology. Caleb’s passion for Internet technology and media began when he joined the dot com revolution in San Francisco in the mid-1990s. He went on to work in educational technology in corportate (Netscape, Maxis), K-12 (High Tech High) and higher education (SDSU, NYU, Antioch) organizations before settling down at Marlboro College in 2008. Caleb regularly presents at conferences and publishes.

Education, innovation

Eco Logic All, A Vermont Makers meetup

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Vermont Makers meetup

7-8:30 pm, Thursday, June 19th

Generator, 250 Main St., Burlington, VT

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Three Speakers On: economics, art & making

* Val Esposito describing our current economics & Ecological Economics, a systems thinking based mode of economics that calculates the complexities & realities of our planet. She will also explore how Vermont is measuring itself with the Genuine Progress Indicator & other visionary work.

* Rebecca Schwarz describing large & small scale art that works ecologically & technologically. Showing art in the form of research & large scale bioremediation to art that tests alternative economies. Beauty beyond the visual & into making meaning.

* Ken Howell describing the maker ethos as an antidote to runaway consumerism. Ken will explore the potential of maker culture & the tools of additive & on-demand manufacturing to mitigate ecological pressures.

Design & Imagine: future, Vermont, art, tech

After we hear from the speakers we will break into facilitated small group design sessions. Solving challenges in playful, serious, & / or quirky ways. Each group briefly reporting back to the larger group on their thoughts & concepts.

Mix & Explore:

Come early & stay after (5:30-7, 8:30-9) for conversation & exploration in Generator, Burlington’s new maker space.

With:

Generator, Sustain Champlain & Donella Meadows Institute

Questions? rebecca@rebeccaschwarz.com

Arduino, Education, Physical Computing, STEAM, Things to Do

ArtDuino Maker Camp is Coming!

ArtDuino Maker Camp is Coming!

August 4 – 8 9:30 am – 3:30 pm Shelburne Farms Coach Barn

From the creators of the Champlain Mini Maker Faire and Cognizant, Making the Future comes the
ArtDuino Maker Camp!

Day campers ages 10-18 will avail themselves the art of making by exploring: electronic wearables, Arduino micro controllers, robotics, 3D printing, wireless controls and musical instrument making alongside dance, theatrics, and story hacking. Activities culminate at week’s end in a community performance and show and tell.  Pre and post camp daycare is available on site.
Go Here to Register for ArtDuino Maker Camp

A Week of Exploring

  • With more than 7 maker instructors (coming from across the USA), teacher apprentices, parent chaperones, and guest speakers, campers will experience a week of exploring new technologies, creation, and innovation that will spark their imaginations and a quest for learning, doing, and creating. On Monday, the group will gather to vote on a theme for the week. Theme choices include Story Hack, Movement, and more. Below is a sample schedule for the week (subject to change):
    • 9:30-10:30 Story Hack or Movement
    • 10:30-11:30 E-wearables, JunkMan, or Costume Hack
    • 11:30-12:00 Art, Movement, or Costume Hack
    • 12:00-1:00 Lunch
    • 1:00-2:00 Robots, JunkMan, Art, or Costume Hack
    • 2:00-3:30 Junkman Music, Movement, Set Design, or Costume Hack

Instructors

Donald KnaackDonald Knaack (aka The Junkman™) is a classically trained percussionist and composer who has used recycled materials as his instruments of music since long before the eco-green movement was cool. He’s the Daddy of Eco-Beat!! He calls it Junk Music™ and it all began with his mentor and collaborator, John Cage encouraged the further development of his attraction to the sounds of found objects. He’s performed at Lincoln Center, The Van’s Warped Tour (with Eminem, Black Eyed Peas and Blink 182), The United Nations, The Kennedy Center, and more. He is currently developing and producing a children’s television show about music and the environment called Junk Music with The Junkman, and has a new, one man musical/visual/theatrical extravaganza entitled BEAT IT! with The Junkman.
Nate HerzogNate Herzog is the creator of StoryHack Media, whose mission is to reimagine storytelling using technology. SHM threw its first competition last October called StoryHackVT, a 24 hour, hackathon-styled cross media event involving 15 teams of 55 participants from Vermont, New York, and beyond. More information can be found at Storyhackmedia.com Outside of StoryHack, Nate is a writer, storyteller, and technology consultant. He lives with his wife and family in Burlington.
Joe ChaseJoe Chase has been teaching physics and robotics for over 20 years. He is dedicated to making science and technology accessible to learners of all ages. He has received the MIT Inspirational Teacher Award and has twice received the Vermont Outstanding Teacher Award.
Beverly BallBeverly Ball is an enthusiastic teacher of art, welding, e-textiles, sewing, paper engineering, and mischief at Denver Academy and beyond. Kids love her. Parents can’t figure her out.
Lydia LittwinLydia Y. Littwin has the great fortune to spend her days teaching and making art with children and adults at the Davis Studio in the South End of Burlington. An undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Art Education fuel her belief that art-making is a useful and necessary tool for self-expression and exploration at any age. As a life-long New England resident, her own work is greatly inspired by the colors that come with the physical, emotional and environmental changes of each season. Lydia works namely with oil paint, but is also prone to creating with gouache, linoleum prints, pencil, and pastel.
Heather MorrisHeather Morris is a mover and shaker in the world of Celtic dance, and is constantly finding innovative ways to expand and enhance traditional art forms. In addition to being a certified instructor of Scottish Highland and Irish dance, Heather is certified in Les Mills International BodyPump and BodyFlow, and has more than 15 years experience running summer camps.
Angela SheehanAngela Sheehan is currently an Education Outreach Coordinator for SparkFun Electronics where she specializes in e-textile and craft technology projects and workshops. With a background in fine art, costuming, and animation she began working within the realm of wearable computing projects during her studies at Bennington College, producing a series of costumes augmented with electronics in collaboration with Rebecca Grabman (’08). In 2009 she launched a blog Soft Circuit Saturdays to host her continuing explorations in e-textiles and the maker movement and taught workshops throughout New England before relocating to Boulder Colorado to join the SparkFun team in 2013.

Go Here to Register for ArtDuino Maker Camp

Click Here for Payment to ArtDuino Maker Camp