As a result of a generous $500,000 grant from the Goizueta Foundation, Mount Vernon will soon open a new maker space on the Glenn Campus. Similar to the Founders Campus studio(i), Glenn Campus Middle and Upper School students will have their own place to tinker, fabricate, and design in The Hive, which will contain a variety of different work areas…
- “Agency” -a workshop space where students will fabricate their designs with wood tools, a Crawlbot CNC machine, Glowforge laser cutter, and various substrates.
- “Platform”- a digital creation space with access to 3D printers, vinyl cutter, micro electronics, and workstations for CAD, animation software and more.
- “Joinery” – a common space that fosters collaboration, ideation, and assembly.
- At the entrance, an open-flexible space allowing students to hangout, brainstorm ideas, and collaborate.
While the entrance area is now complete, and the internal humanities-based learning spaces are open, the production and fabrication areas of The Hive will be finished in a matter of weeks. While these new spaces will allow the tech, engineering, and design classes and the Innovation Diploma more expansive areas to work, according to Upper School Director of Design & Engineering Programs, T.J. Edwards, “The most immediate impact of the HIVE will be on the Upper School iProject and a newly (re)launched robotics club. Students will have access to tools and materials that were unavailable before. The hope is that faculty will begin to see the potential of the space to plan.”
To read more about Mount Vernon’s new space called The Hive, check out T.J. Edwards’ blog entry on the Mount Vernon Institute for Innovation’s site.
Specifically the grant awarded to Mount Vernon is an extension of Goizueta’s GoSTEAM (Goizueta + STEAM) initiative, focused primarily on inspiring and promising STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs in schools.
