We've been on the road on the National Tour for a few months now, and we're constantly amazed at the enthusiasm and determination we see in the locations and class participants we've visited. We've taught in museums, schools and hackerspaces, and we're always excited to see where people have organized the resources to set up a space devoted to making and learning.
That's why we were extra excited for our stop in Chicago to visit Level UP, a teen makerspace located in a space inside the Ford City Mall, which had a previous life as an aircraft manufacturing plant. The space has been getting a lot of coverage lately for its efforts to involve Chicago teens in robotics and electronics. The founder of the space, Jackie Moore, leveraged a career in software troubleshooting to institute a homebase for a FIRST Robotics team and a space to offer STEAM education outreach for teens in the community.
Jackie, and one of her student colleagues, were kind enough to take time out of the Intro to Arduino workshop we taught to talk to us about the philosophy and mission behind Level UP.
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You might have noticed that was "Recap #2" from the National Tour. You can also check out the video and the post about the first leg.
Thanks Jackie and Juan, and thanks everyone who participated in the workshop! We can't wait to see what projects you guys come up with next!
Here I live in Chicago and I missed your visit.
disappointed
But glad you got here and had a great time!