FEATURES Amazing Maker Awards
I was supposed to do this.
Gregg Behr from the Grable Foundation
gave us our first grant and he gave me my first
mentoring advice. Sitting in his office, I said, “I
have this story and I have this desire, but I'm not
trained like you guys, what do you think I should
do? And he just said, “Jump in — jump in with
both feet. You have this desire to give … just follow
that and let Matt’s story lead you.” And that’s
really what I did.
Matt’s Maker Space began in the more affluent
Mt. Lebanon School District, but we decided
to pursue Title 1 schools, which are typically
underserved. We want to make sure that we’re
giving to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have
opportunities.
The rule of thumb for each space is that we
give them about $25,000 and we give them a wish
list of what we think could go into a makerspace.
It includes design services and training.
We recently awarded Mt. Lebanon School
District more funds to build middle school maker
spaces. Students wrote to me, saying that they
were now in middle school and were looking for
their Matt’s Maker Space? We couldn’t let them
down. Their program is now seamless from
kindergarten through high school. If a student
wants to be a maker or follow a STEAM path, they
are able to do it there.
We have returned to many of our spaces
to check in on them and ask if they have any
further needs. We have provided training
funds, programming, and equipment
when needed. Once the spaces are up and
going, we encourage them to work with
their PTAs or to work with outside granting
organizations to ensure their future.
Makerspaces in Hospitals
Makerspaces can go just about anywhere! I
basically wanted to put makerspaces into
places that had touched our family, places we
had experienced. One of those places was UPMC
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where
I happened to work.
In my day job, I work with pediatric cancer
survivors. I started thinking a makerspace
would be really cool to have in a hospital. The
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh had already
worked closely with UPMC Children’s Hospital
and they understood the environment. We worked
closely with the Child Life department of the
hospital, who are responsible for making sure
that kids can still be kids in spite of their medical
problems.
Makerspaces can help kids with medical needs
in many ways. A child facing surgery might begin
working on a project with a child life specialist.
He may say “I'm really scared. I'm having surgery
tomorrow.” While working on the project together,
they can explore his feelings. Or perhaps a child
is having open heart surgery. The surgeon and
the child can make a model of a heart on the 3D
printer and see what the procedure will entail.
In July 2018, we opened our space there. It
is staffed by a full-time child life specialist who
was also a teacher. The makerspace is used by
all children in the hospital as part of the creative
and expressive arts program. Getting to go to
the makerspace can help to achieve therapeutic
objectives like getting out of bed or walking.Next
year, we hope to open another Matt’s Maker
Space in a pediatric hospital in Chicago.
22 makezine.com
Matt’s Maker Space
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