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♪♪♪

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Casey: What I'd love 
for you to do. . .

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Michael: These sixth-graders 
from Willowside Middle

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School in Santa Rosa may be 
on the most productive field

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trip of their fledgling 
academic careers.

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Some are learning the basics 
of coding...others are

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creating online designs 
that laser cutters and

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3- D printers will turn 
into real products.

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Gitano: I like the 
interactive part about

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it because I don't just, I 
don't like just sitting

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at the desk in just 
doing my work.

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I like hands-on activities 
and always doing something.

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Jade: Oh, it's so different 
and it's cool to do the

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hands-on experience.

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We watch videos in class 
and we do some hands-on

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but, like, it's 
nothing like this.

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Michael: This frenzy of 
activity and creativity

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isn't taking 
place at a school.

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This so-called "design 
laboratory" is actually

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located inside the Sonoma 
County Office of Education

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headquarters.

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It's the brainchild 
of Casey Shea...

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Coordinator for Maker 
Education for the entire

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county's school district.

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But...what is "making"?

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Casey: The shortest 
definition of making is

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taking an idea that 
you have in your head,

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and putting it 
in your hands,

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going through the 
process to put it together,

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whatever that takes.

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Michael: The "maker 
movement"...young people

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turning their creative 
visions into tangible and

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often practical or whimsical 
objects...is now a worldwide

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phenomenon, with over 
240 maker fairs

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across the globe.

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But it began right in Sonoma 
County with this man

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Dale Dougherty.

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The founder of Maker 
Media and publisher of Make

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magazine wanted to promote 
the do-it-yourself mindset

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to help students learn 
STEAM concepts: science,

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technology, English, 
art, and math.

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A non-traditional approach 
to counter old teaching

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methods that often didn't 
resonate with some students.

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Casey: I was a high school 
teacher for many years.

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So unfortunately, by high 
school a lot of the kids,

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there's a significant number 
of kids who are sort of

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turned off to 
the whole system.

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And we're icing out a 
whole generation of kids,

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a whole group of students, 
who could be the next

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innovators and the next 
problem solvers

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that we need.

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Lisa: I absolutely love 
coming to the design lab.

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It's one - the kids have 
told me it's one of their

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favorite trips of the year.

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Michael: These students are 
learning about electricity as

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they create their 
own LED flashlights.

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Their teacher, Lisa Berges, 
says what she loves most

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about this lab and maker 
education is how it inspires

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kids who don't necessarily 
shine in a

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classroom setting.

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Lisa: It just 
allows freedom,

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it's discovery, they go 
with their gut and they

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test and they iterate, 
and they persevere.

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Michael: Sonoma County 
Schools Superintendent

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Steven Herrington became 
such an advocate of maker

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education that he and 
Shea started training

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other teachers in 2014.

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One year later they joined 
with Sonoma State University

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to create the first fully 
accredited program

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in the nation...

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honored that same 
year by the White House.

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Now, teachers come here 
from all over the U.S.

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to discover how to set 
up their own make labs.

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Dr. Herrington: There's a 
lot of things going for the

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make movement, because 
teachers realize that

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this creates an 
environment for creativity,

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but it also creates an 
environment of success

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for learning.

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Michael: The design lab's 
even proven to be a hit

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among those in 
special education.

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Neal McKenzie, who teaches 
visually impaired and blind

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students like Ricky, say 
they've worked together to

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create tactile objects with 
readable Braille messages --

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like simulated calculators, 
computer keyboards

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and other objects.

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Their designs are being 
shared around the world.

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Neal: I send my files out 
and people download them

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all the time, and I see my 
things being used in all

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other places, and that's a 
pretty awesome feeling to

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see a kid in Canada using 
a thing that I designed.

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Ricky: It's very gratifying 
just knowing people are

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using designs that I 
thought of sometimes.

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♪♪♪

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Michael: For Sonoma county 
schools that don't have the

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space or resources for 
their own maker lab,

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the county offers a mobile 
lab that comes to them.

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(Opens van door)

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Michael: Over in 
Sacramento, UC Davis

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education professor 
Lee Martin takes his

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mobile lab out to schools 
all over the region.

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Like in Sonoma County, Lee 
wants to provide a

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"space of possibility" for 
students by filling this van

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with tools and materials 
to make "stuff."

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( Unloading stuff from van)

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Michael: Today, at Sacramento's 
Met High School,

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Lee and these ninth through 
twelfth graders are bringing

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power tools, a 3-D printer, 
even a laser cutter into

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teacher Christopher 
Chu's chemistry class.

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They're all members of 
their own "Makers Club."

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Lee: One of the things I 
love about the maker stuff

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is that it's a place 
where learning new ideas,

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it's really clear how it's 
going to enable you to

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do new things."

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Emily: It's really just 
anyone who enjoys inventing

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and kind of tinkering and 
just working with their

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hands to create something.

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Chu: One of the things I 
think that makes them

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really special, 
especially this group,

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is they like to take risks.

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They like to try new things 
and they're not afraid to

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make mistakes.

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Ava: There's just this 
feeling of success when

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you do something on your own.

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You make something and then 
you can look back at it in

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the future and say, 
'I did that.'

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Michael: As an avid "maker" 
himself, Lee wondered if

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transporting a "workshop on 
wheels" to underserved

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communities would help spark 
curiosity and creativity

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in young people.

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Lee: There are a lot of 
signals to young women

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and young people of color 
that say engineering,

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design are not spaces 
that are necessairly for you

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and that's deeply 
problematic.

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By creating a space where they 
feel that they do fit in

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by creating a space where 
they can be successful

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and with something really 
tangible that they can walk

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out and say "I made this.' 
I think that at least has the

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potential to really show 
them that there are spaces

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that they fit in, belong, 
and that their ideas

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are valued.

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Michael: Establishing 
maker programs and

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training teachers 
can be challenging.

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But most educators agree 
it can provide a spark

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that changes both students' 
and teachers' lives.

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Gitano: I'd recommend 
just trying it,

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because it's really fun when 
you get to do it and even if

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things don't work out, it's 
always a good experience.

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Steven: Your 
students will benefit,

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and you will love it because 
it's a whole new exploration

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of learning for 
you as an adult.

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Lisa: I would 
say, just go for it.

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It's a little 
scary at first.

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But if you allow them 
flexibility and you trust

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them they 
produce great results.

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All: Makers 
♪♪♪