Cougar Cub Inventor's Workshop

On Thursday November 30th the RES community gathered with volunteers from the Society of Women Engineers, ECHO Science Museum, Radiate Art Studio, and CHMS and JES educators to celebrate making, creating, building and learning.  Students and their families had an opportunity to try a range of hands on activities that encouraged them to Make, Create and Share!  The evening was a true celebration of collaborative learning and FUN. 

Here is a video that gives you a small peak into the great events of the evening.


This event could not happen without the help of volunteers inside and outside of our school community.  I am so grateful to be surrounded by people that believe in student hands on learning and are willing to give time to create this type of experience.

Special Thanks for all of their time and talent to:
Chef James-Awesome Farm to School Dinner
Chris Whitaker--ECHO Science Center, STEM Education Coordinator
Rebecca Garavan and Heather Drury--Radiate Art Space Founders and Marble Painting Artists
Basak Simal,Joan Hathaway (and family), Pam Gillis--Society of Women Engineer's Engineers and Rocket and Jitterbot Inspirations
Willie Lee-- BRMS Technology Educator and Vinyl Cutter Extraordinaire
Quinn Keating--CHMS Technology Educator and 3D Printing Master
Dave Bouchard--JES Enrichment Teacher and Little Bits Synthesizer Sound Enthusiast
Beth Redford--RES Library Media Specialist and Coding Guru
Tonya Girouard- RES Third Grade Teacher and Lead Learner in all things Electronic
Katie Lefrancois--RES Fourth Grade Teacher and and All Around Student Creativity Supporter

A HUGE thank you to Mrs. Rankin for organizing such a great event every year!  
(And thanks for allowing us to repost your blog!)

RES Ambassadors of STEM

A few months ago I blogged about an opportunity that Richmond Elementary School was part of through a grant from the Vermont After School Program and Montshire Science Museum. That Tinkering Grant award allowed us to have some awesome materials for engineering exploration both in school and in an after school class that I hosted.  The relationship that RES established with the Vermont After School program has led to excellent learning for students as well as professional development for myself as the RES enrichment teacher. It also led us to an opportunity to visit the Vermont State House in Montpelier last week and talk to state representatives about all of the great engineering activities, and the amazing makers and scientists that we have at RES. 

I was proud to bring six students to Montpelier to participate in a day that included engineering design challenges, a visit to floor of the State House (where our Richmond representative called out our students by name!) and time to engage representatives in making through our RES marble maze display (Students designed elements and created on the spot). 

It was great to share about the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)---and to see RES students SHINE!  At RES this year we are on a journey to bring making, creating and engineering to all students through the creation of a Makerspace.  It is a journey as we figure out how this work fits into our curriculum as well as our after school programming.  Connecting to the Vermont Afterschool program has been an excellent way to engage in dialog about how we can provide multiple avenues for all students to access these skills and opportunities. 

post originally appeared on Mrs. Rankin's blog Enrichment at RES.  Reposted with permission.

Makerspace Materials

We've been enjoying the makerspace at RES for the first few months of the school year.  Just a reminder, we need YOUR help to keep our makerspace filled with materials ready for us to use when we are making!

Image From: https://www.theartofed.com/2016/03/16/extending-art-room-making-makerspace/

Recyclable/Free Items You Can Collect:

• Cereal Boxes
• Paper towel & toilet paper rolls
• Yogurt containers
• plastic lids
• Old electronic toys (for the take-apart station)
• Large cardboard boxes

Valuable Making Items You Can Donate:

• Straws
• Pipe cleaners
• Masking or Duct Tape
• Ribbon
• String
• Wooden Dowels
• LEDs
• Coin Batteries
• Material (scraps are fine!)
• Hot Glue Gun Sticks
• Legos (small)
• Tinkertoys
• Keva Blocks
• Kinex
• $$ (Check in with Mrs Rankin for more ways to support!)

#Makerspace Expectations

Our RES Maskerspace is open and ready for creative business!  Students in Miss Darby's 3rd grade class helped Mrs. Rankin develop and share the expectations of the space with other students at RES.  Check out all of their hard work!

 

For a visual tour of the Makerspace, you can check out Mrs. Rankin's Enrichment at RES blog.

Mrs. Rankin will continue accepting donations of consumables for the makerspace, too.  Please collect items (egg cartons, toilet paper/paper towel tubes, etc.) and send them in to the Makerspace.

Exploring Squishy Circuits!

As we dive into our Electricity unit in our classrooms, Mrs. Rankin is helping us to explore in new and creative ways during Enrichment class.  Last week, we built on our knowledge of circuits by exploring with Squishy Circuits!  Using conductive and insulating dough, we explored various ways to create circuits to light LEDs, run fans or even small motors!  Exciting times...and a great start to our new unit of learning!

 

Thank you to all of our dough-making volunteers!  We're still looking for volunteers to make more dough to add to our classroom makerspaces, please let your child's teacher know if you willing to make an easy batch.  We'll provide you with an easy-to-follow recipe!