In May and June of 2018 Caryn, a Senior Project Geologist in our Burbank office, busted out her calculator and sharpened her pencil to volunteer for a grant writing committee to fund Cypress Elementary’s MakerSpace. What’s a MakerSpace you ask? It’s a way to inspire innovation and fuel creativity by providing a space and materials to build whatever you can imagine, create movies, and learn coding. Caryn contributed by providing the grant budget and performing the final technical review of the grant application. In August 2018, Cypress was notified that their funding for the space was approved through the Harriet H. Samuelsson Foundation. In May 2019, Cypress Elementary held a ribbon cutting ceremony and opened the space to students for use during recess and class time. The space even made it into the local newspaper, The Acorn.
The MakerSpace includes robotics; a green screen, camera, and iMovie software; building materials; clay; and circuitry. Cypress has plans to expand the MakerSpace in coming years with 3D printers and film editing software.