CA students explore new opportunities

The new Chester Academy Makerspace has been a vibrant hub of creativity and innovation, serving as a multi-purpose area that cultivates a collaborative environment for students, teachers, and staff.

Several noteworthy projects have already come to life within the makerspace incorporating collaboration between family and consumer sciences, art, and music classes. Some examples include seventh-grade students designing and creating their own personalized FUNKO pop figures representing their dream careers, and engineering globally inspired pan flutes as a component of their general music class. The technological applications of AutoCAD and 3D printing were incorporated throughout these projects.

Digital design proficiency while using the vinyl cutter was evidenced in projects such as the Drumline T-shirts in grade 12, while laser cutters were used by ninth-grade students in creative arts as they worked to design their own abstract monograms.

In family and consumer science, middle school students collaborated with high school students to design and create custom-themed cookie cutters.

Looking forward, many more projects are coming up in the makerspace. Students will be using the laser cutter for a mythological card exchange. Grade 6 will be creating an Egyptian typography map using the CNC router in their social studies classes, where students will feel the Nile as well as hills and other geographical features. Ninth grade ecology students will also be creating artisan syrup bottles using laser cutters.

These diverse projects underscore the versatility of the makerspace, and continued opportunities for students to explore their interests across disciplines.

CES program continues growth across all grades

The Chester Elementary School Makerspace is thriving with creativity and innovation. Students continue to engage in learning experiences that include the engineering design process, problem-based learning, robotics, and business/career partnerships.

Students in kindergarten through fifth grade participate in weekly challenges in robotics aligned to content area skills while reinforcing programming, precision, critical thinking and problem solving.

First and second grade students have been working with the robot Indi. First grade is learning about color and how color sensors work. They were able to learn and experiment with commands that Indi had by focusing on what happened when they created varied command sequences using colored pads.

Fourth grade went on a trip in November on a sailboat called the Sloop, located in the Hudson Valley. With robotics, they’ll be creating a ferryboat that moves. This is an effort to incorporate what students are learning in their social studies classes into their robotics class as well. They will also be creating commercials using a green screen and video editing software.

Fifth grade will be getting to know the robot, Root, made by the company Roomba, the same company that makes the popular robotic vacuums used in homes.

“A number of these students have Roombas,” said Ms. Rende. “So they’re able to make those connections and say, ‘Oh, the same company? They applied it from the vacuum to make this and improved it?’ They’re able to see those steps.”

As students are able to make these connections, they are introduced to the different varieties of how robots function and their different uses.

“One of the projects that fifth graders will be doing is that they are going to program Root to draw a shape,” said Ms. Rende. “Then they will be playing shape charades with preschool. We’ll have preschoolers come in, have the robot do the charade, and the preschoolers will have to guess what the shape is.”