STEM Makerspace
Opening summer 2025
Aspire is creating a 1,400 square foot “Makerspace,” which will allow us to:
- Grow to support more students and have a meeting place for staff, students, and families.
- Incorporate science labs, coding classes, video/design projects, robotics demonstrations, structured play, and other interactive activities into our programming. In addition to being fun, these STEM activities will introduce students to new skills and technologies that are relevant to STEM-related high school, college, and career pathways.
- Expand our hands-on project-based learning components.
- Welcome guest presenters in fields such as healthcare, engineering, culinary arts, and more.
We are currently fundraising for the supplies to furnish the space, such as workstations, tables, seating, and more materials to make the space a flexible learning environment for students.
Our students and families have shared that they are interested in having additional programming that would allow students to participate in hands-on learning opportunities related to science, technology, engineering, math, and related subjects. Through surveys, focus groups, standing committees, and one-on-one relationships, we have engaged students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and community partners in conceptualizing this space. The final physical space and programming will be in direct response to their needs, priorities, and ideas.
Opportunities for early experiences with STEM are particularly important for our students, among whom 50% are girls and 99% identify as people of color. As students begin to select elective coursework in middle and high school, we want to ensure that they have a baseline understanding of STEM-related topics and have the opportunity to see STEM as an interesting and viable pathway. Research shows that exposure to STEM topics in afterschool programs in childhood introduces students to important career pathways, especially for low-income youth, youth of color, and girls who are more likely to exit STEM education through high school and college (Morgan 2016).
What will this Makerspace do?
This Makerspace will allow Aspire to expand our capacity to provide high-impact STEM programming and other project-based experiential learning opportunities to our students. This new space will help us expand and enhance our programming. For example:
- We will have flexibility to grow to support additional students and have a central meeting place for staff, students, and families. The multi-functional design, furniture, and setup will allow us to use the space for various functions over the course of a single day. For example, we may start with a desk and laptop setup while students participate in a coding class, then move the furniture to create an open space for a dance or yoga class, and then pull in larger lab-style furniture for a science experiment.
- We will be able to offer science experiments/labs, coding classes, robotics demonstrations, video/film/podcast design projects, and more. This will include providing instruction led by our staff and welcoming guest speakers and presenters.
- We will expand our project-based learning components. Our team regularly identifies special projects based on students’ interests and program data about areas where students could use additional support. Then, we design exciting hands-on, long-term projects that students work on in groups. With this expanded Makerspace, we can significantly increase and expand our capacity to offer these project-based learning opportunities.
