When Coach Walls walked into the PPHS North Makerspace, he didn’t just see table saws, power tools, and building materials - he saw the potential for students to create something amazing and take pride in their school. He decided to start the Makerspace Passion Project where students who were interested could spend the next 6 weeks cleaning out, redesigning, and creating a new and improved makerspace for the PPHS North campus while learning concepts from LEAN methodology and industrial engineering.
Jackson Langlois, a PPHS North student, knew immediately that he was going to sign up for the Makerspace project because it fit his interests perfectly, “I really enjoy building things and I like the process of turning an idea into a physical, usable thing.”
The project started out like all great projects do - with an assessment of what they have, what they need, and what they would like to have in the future. They began with the goals of having a cleaner, more organized space and building a usable workbench. The makerspace is a little short on “space” but the PPHS North students were excited to reorganize and maximize their space to foster creativity and innovation.
Week two saw our students building a new workbench and organizational system for tools and materials. Students created labels and a system to organize their toolboxes. This was exciting for Coach Walls because he was starting to see how the students were aligning the hands-on part of the project with the project management topics they had learned about the previous week.
Over the next few weeks, students continued to build their workbench, organize materials, and hang a pegboard on the wall. As they continued to build and organize, they also continued to learn. Jackson shared that, “throughout the project, I got to do things I had never done before. I learned how to use some new tools, too.” The combination of technical skills, hands-on projects, and interest-based learning are some of the things that have made passion projects such a huge success at PPHS.
At the end of the cycle, the makerspace was in GREAT shape! Students had a new workbench and a space where they can innovate and build incredible prototypes. Coach Walls shared that his students were really proud of what they had accomplished - and we are too!
Published on 10/8/2021