MIA Made's Wynwood Maker Camp

MIA Made's Wynwood Maker Camp is the 1st of its kind in South Florida. Over the course of the summer, instructors will take 85 students (age 14-18) through a curriculum that covers robotics, 3d printing, software development, and entrepreneurship. The goal of the camp is to encourage youth to be innovative thinkers by exposing them to cutting-edge technology in a way that is comprehendible and applicable.

The camp will run five 2-week sessions with 17 students each (4:17 instructor to student ratio). During the 1st week, students will learn in a collaborative, hands-on environment how to work with the raspberry pi, Little Bits circuits, 3D printing, and business plans. The 2nd week, students will go on a field trip to a local technology company and then spend the rest of the week developing their own individual project using the technologies they learned the week before. The session will end with a showcase of the student’s various projects and subsequently be invited to show their projects off again at the Miami Mini Maker Faire in November 2014. Two scholarships per session have already been secured for the purposes of providing access for underprivileged student applicants.

Finally, so that students have continued access to the knowledge being imparted, the camp will come with an online learning companion that has the curriculum as well as video tutorials and informative materials on other projects students can pursue with the same know-how.

The expected outcomes of the camp will be increased appreciation for makerism in all its forms, better understanding of how to integrate makerism into youth education, and better understanding of how parents can encourage their children to pursue STEM careers.

Funded by Miami, FL (June 2014)