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Competing priorities can challenge efforts to stimulate creativity and ingenuity in the classroom. Pelham Public Schools embarked on a multi-year mission to systemically integrate learning experiences to prepare students to succeed in the new century. By building community partnerships, the district explored and implemented ways to develop makerspaces in each school, opening minds to student and teacher innovation and collaboration.

We constantly read and hear about the need to prepare students for the 21^st century and the jobs of tomorrow. Similar calls for schools to focus on specific skills in education echo the 1990s, as we sought to build a “bridge to the 21^st century.” Remember the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Report?�� There are definite links between that work and current trend for students to think critically and creatively, collaborate and communicate, integrate technology, and become a global citizen. Yet the advent of high stakes testing and assessment-driven teacher/principal evaluations with No Child Left Behind and Race To The Top challenges efforts to stimulate creativity and ingenuity in the classroom.

After some visits to neighboring school districts and libraries, we established a team of stakeholders to lead our efforts. A “Makerspace Exploratory Team” of teachers, students, administrators and parents embarked on an extensive study to examine the prospect of creating such learning environments in Pelham. Our team encompasses learning community members from all six schools in our district, each contributing valuable insight and skills. Members visited schools, participated in professional development, and attended the. Members read Laura Flemming’s Worlds of Making (2015), and our administrators examined Tony Wagner’s Creating Innovators (2015) to prime their thinking. Teachers on our team became STEAM coaches, as we prepared them to be Maker leaders in their schools. Likewise, we invited our principals to be part of the team as it was necessary to personalize any new learning experiences in their buildings. Meanwhile, we initiated communication with our local benefactors, the Pelham Education Foundation, and showcased a model makerspace at their annual “Exploratorium” event.

Our 2016-17 goal was to literally and figuratively unpack the makerspaces in all our schools. We allowed our teachers and students to explore organically, find connections in their curriculum, and enable children free time to tinker, play, and create. Other lessons learned from this year include the need to implicitly find links with the new Science standards, offer more real-time professional development for teachers, and examine elementary staffing options for additional support. However, the most important lesson learned was discovering a recipe for success: building community partnerships by promoting our educational values. Our journey continues.