♪♪♪

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

Michael: These sixth-graders
from Willowside Middle

School in Santa Rosa may be
on the most productive field

trip of their fledgling
academic careers.

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

creating online designs
that laser cutters and

3- D printers will turn
into real products.

Gitano: I like the
interactive part about

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

at the desk in just
doing my work.

I like hands-on activities
and always doing something.

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

hands-on experience.

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

but, like, it's
nothing like this.

Michael: This frenzy of
activity and creativity

isn't taking
place at a school.

This so-called "design
laboratory" is actually

located inside the Sonoma
County Office of Education

headquarters.

It's the brainchild
of Casey Shea...

Coordinator for Maker
Education for the entire

county's school district.

But...what is "making"?

Casey: The shortest
definition of making is

taking an idea that
you have in your head,

and putting it
in your hands,

going through the
process to put it together,

whatever that takes.

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

turning their creative
visions into tangible and

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

phenomenon, with over
240 maker fairs

across the globe.

But it began right in Sonoma
County with this man

Dale Dougherty.

The founder of Maker
Media and publisher of Make

magazine wanted to promote
the do-it-yourself mindset

to help students learn
STEAM concepts: science,

technology, English,
art, and math.

A non-traditional approach
to counter old teaching

methods that often didn't
resonate with some students.

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

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

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

turned off to
the whole system.

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

a whole group of students,
who could be the next

innovators and the next
problem solvers

that we need.

Lisa: I absolutely love
coming to the design lab.

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

favorite trips of the year.

Michael: These students are
learning about electricity as

they create their
own LED flashlights.

Their teacher, Lisa Berges,
says what she loves most

about this lab and maker
education is how it inspires

kids who don't necessarily
shine in a

classroom setting.

Lisa: It just
allows freedom,

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

test and they iterate,
and they persevere.

Michael: Sonoma County
Schools Superintendent

Steven Herrington became
such an advocate of maker

education that he and
Shea started training

other teachers in 2014.

One year later they joined
with Sonoma State University

to create the first fully
accredited program

in the nation...

honored that same
year by the White House.

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

to discover how to set
up their own make labs.

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

make movement, because
teachers realize that

this creates an
environment for creativity,

but it also creates an
environment of success

for learning.

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

among those in
special education.

Neal McKenzie, who teaches
visually impaired and blind

students like Ricky, say
they've worked together to

create tactile objects with
readable Braille messages --

like simulated calculators,
computer keyboards

and other objects.

Their designs are being
shared around the world.

Neal: I send my files out
and people download them

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

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

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

Ricky: It's very gratifying
just knowing people are

using designs that I
thought of sometimes.

♪♪♪

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

space or resources for
their own maker lab,

the county offers a mobile
lab that comes to them.

(Opens van door)

Michael: Over in
Sacramento, UC Davis

education professor
Lee Martin takes his

mobile lab out to schools
all over the region.

Like in Sonoma County, Lee
wants to provide a

"space of possibility" for
students by filling this van

with tools and materials
to make "stuff."

( Unloading stuff from van)

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

Lee and these ninth through
twelfth graders are bringing

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

teacher Christopher
Chu's chemistry class.

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

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

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

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

do new things."

Emily: It's really just
anyone who enjoys inventing

and kind of tinkering and
just working with their

hands to create something.

Chu: One of the things I
think that makes them

really special,
especially this group,

is they like to take risks.

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

make mistakes.

Ava: There's just this
feeling of success when

you do something on your own.

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

the future and say,
'I did that.'

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

transporting a "workshop on
wheels" to underserved

communities would help spark
curiosity and creativity

in young people.

Lee: There are a lot of
signals to young women

and young people of color
that say engineering,

design are not spaces
that are necessairly for you

and that's deeply
problematic.

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

by creating a space where
they can be successful

and with something really
tangible that they can walk

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

potential to really show
them that there are spaces

that they fit in, belong,
and that their ideas

are valued.

Michael: Establishing
maker programs and

training teachers
can be challenging.

But most educators agree
it can provide a spark

that changes both students'
and teachers' lives.

Gitano: I'd recommend
just trying it,

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

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

Steven: Your
students will benefit,

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

of learning for
you as an adult.

Lisa: I would
say, just go for it.

It's a little
scary at first.

But if you allow them
flexibility and you trust

them they
produce great results.

All: Makers
♪♪♪