Not only are the shop classes and home ec long gone from public schools, along with the arts, but now even experiments in science labs have been pushed aside to make more time to teach to standardized tests. Kids are not being given the opportunity to solve problems, use their creativity, and most importantly, to experiment and fail in order to learn. The impact of this deprivation is seen particularly in our dismal national performance in STEM education and therefore the STEM jobs pipeline. There is a workaround that can bring kids all this and more, without waiting for change to come to the schools via national and state politics. It’s simple, it leverages existing infrastructure, and it does not require an army of STEM subject-matter experts to implement it. It’s LA Makerspace’s impact model - training librarians and others who already work with kids to facilitate STEM learning Maker-style.
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