Making Spaces Program
Empowering Local Learning Environments to Build and Sustain High-Impact Educational Programs that Harness the Potential of Making to Transform Teaching and Learning to be Equitable, Inclusive, Relevant, and Responsive to Learner’s Needs.
The Making Spaces Program is a 2 Year professional learning and capacity building program designed to support local leadership around maker education and build the foundation for lasting, embedded change in three core areas: pedagogy, community, and culture, with an emphasis on sustainability + growth.
The program is led by Maker Ed with support from the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (CMP) and has an ambitious goal to sustainably integrate making into learning environments across the country.
The program employs an innovative model where multiple participating educational sites partner with a nearby Regional Hub, which are in turn supported by Maker Ed over a 30-month period. Regional Hubs provide local Sites with two school years of support to jumpstart and sustain maker education in learning environments through professional development, tools, resources, and community engagement.
Over the last three years, the Making Spaces program has engaged one cohort of Hubs per year, reaching 21 Hubs, almost 200 schools, 350 educators, and an estimated 26,000 youth since 2016. Our success and potential is undeniable. When communities collaborate and have support to build capacity, deep and lasting change is possible.
The Making Spaces program development and improvement efforts are supported by Google’s Making & Science Initiative, and Cognizant’s Making the Future Program.
The South Florida Making Spaces Program is generously supported by the Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation CreArte Grant.
Cohort 1 Sites
Gulliver Schools
Gulliver is a co-educational private college preparatory day school with a reputation for excellence that spans the nation and around the world. Located in Miami, Florida, the school enrolls more than 2,200 students in Grades PreK3-12 on four campuses. Gulliver focuses on a traditional academic curriculum, supplemented by a wide variety of electives. Small class sizes and student-centered learning enable faculty to meet individual needs. Our rigorous academics and countless extra-curricular opportunities prepare students for future success; and 100 percent of our graduating seniors go on to college.
The Cushman School
The Cushman School, Miami-Dade’s oldest continuously operating private school was established in 1924. Widely recognized as an accomplished educational institution that offers a developmental, relevant and challenging academic environment, it’s a special place where joy and laughter meet pedagogy through a progressive educational approach. Nestled in the heart of Miami’s Upper Eastside, the 96-year-old school continues to enliven its historic philosophy in which character development always comes first and leads the way in becoming one who changes the lives of others in our local community and beyond. With almost a century of consistency of practice and application as students are placed in happy surroundings, the dispositions of courtesy, compassion and empathy, personal and joint accountability as well as industry and perseverance become integral parts of Cushman students’ way of thinking and behavior. Grounded in brain research, with performing and visual arts, movement and athletics, and the fusion of design and technology as drivers of an innovative curriculum, Cushman’s program is unmatched. Creativity and individual differences are developed and celebrated. This, in combination with developing poised students who have a positive approach to life, strong oral and written communication skills and the disposition to think outwardly toward others, lead Cushman students to be recognized as engaged leaders who are Innovators of Change.
Centner Academy
Centner Academy is a PK-8th grade school designed from the ground up to build thoughtful, compassionate, creative, curious, and innovative thinkers. We believe that facilitating authentic learning experiences across all disciplines grows our learners’ problem-solving and critical thinking capacities. Our student experience is crafted to ensure that every student is both challenged and supported throughout their school day.
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School
Belen Jesuit Preparatory School was founded in 1854 in Havana, Cuba by Queen Isabel II of Spain. Today, Belen Jesuit sits on a 33-acre site in western Miami-Dade County. Students enjoy the rich cultural diversity of a major metropolitan community, as well as Miami’s beautiful weather and beaches. Since its inception in Miami, over 7,500 young men have graduated from Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.
Felix Varela High School
Felix Varela Senior High School is dedicated to creating a quality learning environment which embraces innovative technology and instructional rigor to meet global challenges by cultivating a safe, nurturing, and equitable environment for students, teachers, parents and our community. It is our mission at Felix Varela Senior High School to foster our students’ desires to become life-long learners. By incorporating relevant community issues, global technology, and expectations for high academic achievement into our curriculum, we empower our students to know they can succeed in our diverse society. The Viper Makerspace is the high school makerspace located at Felix Varela Senior High School. The space is maintained and run by SECME. Here, students create projects focusing on 3D printing and electronics. The space also provides a home to the engineering program at the school. Students are also encouraged to work on personal projects after school in the Viper Makerspace during the hours it is open.
Monsignor Edward Pace High School
Monsignor Edward Pace High School is a co-educational college prepartory institution owned by the Archdiocese of Miami. It was founded in 1961, in the Marist tradition, on a 44-acre campus located in what today is the town of Miami Gardens. There are over 900 students in grades 9 through 12. Msgr. Edward Pace is deeply rooted in tradition and the formation of its students becoming global citizens who will give back to the community. Our school practices this formation by always providing the best education and tools to support its richly diverse population. As an example, last year, we instituted our new STEM lab in order to prepare our students for the real world.
Ransom Everglades School
Ransom Everglades is a non-profit, non-sectarian day school serving grades 6-12. A private institution with a public purpose, Ransom Everglades combines rigorous college preparation with a commitment to service to the community. Guided by the words of the school’s founder in 1903, Paul C. Ransom, the school produces graduates who “believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it.”
Museum of Discovery and Science
The mission of the Museum of Discovery and Science is to connect people to inspiring science. Consisting of 119,000 square feet of interior space, the 300-seat AutoNation IMAX Theater, and an open air Grand Atrium featuring the Great Gravity Clock, the Museum features dynamic interactive exhibits in the natural and physical sciences and a large array of programs designed to serve diverse audiences. The Museum regularly serves over 400,000 visitors each year and is the primary destination for school Field trips in Broward County. In 2018, the Museum served 90,000 students on school-sponsored field trips plus an additional 60,000 school-age children visiting with friends and family.