Last month, we announced the SparkFun National Tour - an event where we will travel across the country teaching students, teachers, librarians, and other educators about DIY electronics and how they can be part of the modern classroom.
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Today, we wanted to update you on the progress we've made and encourage you to sign up! Thus far, we have had an amazing response and, as I write this, we have booked 35 stops! Many states are represented, all the way from Vermont to Hawaii, and we have stops booked at schools, hackerspaces, museums, and more.
The first 50 stops that are booked receive a discounted price ($1500 vs. $2500) for a full day of instruction and kits for 20-40 students. There are only 15 of these discounted stops still remaining, so sign up soon!
We hope that you'll join us in helping change the face of education! Join the SparkFun National Tour today!
I'd like to find out if anyone signed up near Seattle, WA, and give them my contact information. I was unable to create a workshop myself... no contacts for schools or maker groups, but if I can help out with someone else's endeavers, that would be great!
I don't believe we have Seattle on the map (yet). Hopefully! If you have any tips for places, we'd be happy to reach out to them!
Looks like a lot of fun. I notice from the pictures that some venues look like garages and others like classrooms. Have you had any trouble getting in the schools? Need certificates, fingerprints, various screenings, etc? Like a teacher or teacher's aid? (Teachers have to pay for their own fingerprinting every 3 to 5 years, as if they had changed. They can have military fingerprints, concealed weapon fingerprints, FBI fingerprints, other Federal employee fingerprints all on file and they don't care. Pay for them again. Just a reminder of who you are dealing with.) 10 years ago I had noticed a big drop in visiting lecturers and demonstration teams. Now the schools are buttoned up like a tank. What's the over-under so far?
I guess it depends on the school district. My wife didn't pay for her fingerprinting. I've been helping our local 4-H robotics club do after school intro to robotics classes at half a dozen schools so far this year and all we've had to have is a teacher sponsor on site. Usually, we end up with several teachers that stay to watch and participate...
Washington State I think is state wide. I experienced it in two districts. A search of "states where teachers must be fingerprinted" produced more than I cared to read. How many make you pay for it yourself is not listed, nor how many make you do it again if you are already in the system from another source like law enforcement or medical. Public education is very big on finding ways to use up your Saturdays.
Both of those pictures are actually from the same event - a class we held at a home for a large group of middle school aged kids. We've haven't really ran into many problems getting classes into schools.