NCCE Maker Camp with our 2nd Grade team

Mr. Musser, Ms. Boni, and Ms. Dorje made a very tall tower using only newspaper struts.

​This August, the second grade teaching team, Richard Musser, Melissa Boni and Erika Dorje, went to the NCEE Maker Camp at Pack Forest near Eatonville, Washington.   We spent two days learning about Engineering with kids from local expert, Conn McQuinn.  We are excited to bring new ideas to our second grade weekly Makerspace.  We learned just how versatile and valuable of a material cardboard can be! For example, we will teach students to use cardboard to make inserts, tabs, flanges, L-braces, punchouts, hinges, gussets and more. We learned about lots of tools and strategies for helping children work safely with cardboard. We also learned strategies for harnessing the super-strength of rolled and folded paper. Perhaps most importantly of all, the team learned how neurobiology, emotional well-being, and making/building are closely connected. Engineering gives kids opportunities to build confidence, persistence and resilience. After two eventful days at Pack Forest we came back inspired and ready to share our new learning with students!