TWO BIT CIRCUS FOUNDATION

Professional Development Workshops (PDs) are held to introduce teachers and administrators to project based learning with open ended materials.

We offer teacher training workshops in our warehouse and at school sites. We have offered PD to more than 5700 teachers over the last few years. Some of those programs are in schools that we have supplied our STEAM Lab Makerspaces and others in conjunction with districts and county offices of education. Several times per year, our early childhood education specialist facilitates a workshop called “Let Materials Lead the Way” for pre-K/kinder educators. The activities often change, but the overarching theme remains the same – getting comfortable teaching with open-ended materials. Our program director also facilitates K-12 PD workshops on an ‘as requested’ basis. These workshops incorporate the maker movement and the engineering design process into an integrated approach to curriculum development.

We have built more than 164 STEAM Labs Makerspaces so far. Most of them in Title 1 schools. What is a STEAM Lab Makerspace? It’s a makerspace that inspires integrative learning in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). Our STEAM Lab Makerspaces are outfitted with tools, materials from our warehouse, and shelving – and even the shelving is usually made from re-purposed materials. The best part of our STEAM Labs Makerspaces is that we incorporate students, teaching them tool safety and organizational skills along the way. When the Lab is complete, students feel empowered to use the space and take pride of ownership in the space. We also include a teacher-training workshop with the purchase of every STEAM Lab Makerspace, so that teachers feel fully equipped to use the space and this year we have added a Standards aligned Project Book to get you started! There are more than 120 Title 1 schools that have applied for Makerspace STEAM Labs asking us to help them with grants to cover the cost. Let us know if your organization has grants that could help.

A traveling event that inspires Inventors through Science, Tech, & Art. STEAM Carnival is a social amusement platform for all ages that uses technology infused games and immersive hands-on experiences that leverage people’s passion for music, fashion, and games to engage them in STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Play. Explode. Repeat. If you like lasers, fire, and robots, you’ll love STEAM Carnival! The carnival includes a giant high-tech game arcade games, a battling robot band showcase, and often a wearable technology fashion show to spotlight STEAM disciplines at work within the power of play.

Imagination.org leads special campaigns (like the Global Cardboard Challenge), tells inspiring stories of creative kids and communities (The Storybook project), and grows Creativity Chapters around the world. We are fueling a movement to help kids and communities foster creativity through Creative Play. And our programs are designed to inspire and make it easy for anyone anywhere to play a role.

LA Makerspace brings free, fun, hands-on science and technology workshops to public library branches throughout LA County. As the primary partner for STEAM education for both the City and County library systems (165 branches), LAM reaches over 4,000 kids a year with coding, robotics, wearable electronics, and stop motion animation programs.