Mt. Lebanon High School hosts World’s Largest Matt’s Maker Space
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Brielle Michel, left, and Kaybre Donahue display their silkscreen projects during the World’s Largest Matt’s Maker Space.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Elementary art teacher Jodi McKeever helps Brielle Michel with a project.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Elementary art teacher Paula Cheran shows how silkscreen printing works.
Make room, Guinness Book. The World’s Largest Matt’s Maker Space is ready for inclusion.
The May 11 event at Mt. Lebanon High School drew hundreds of community members, young and not-so-young, for a variety of hands-on activities focused on the STEAM educational approach: science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Vasilisa Kosyreva delights in the “lava lamp” she made using vegetable oil and other substances.
The Matt’s Maker Space program is an initiative of Mt. Lebanon residents Noelle and David Conover in memory of Matthew, their son who died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma at age 12. Their nonprofit organization has established maker spaces, collaborative work areas in public places for creating and exploring, at more than a dozen locations so far, including all seven of Mt. Lebanon School District’s elementary schools.
The concept is spreading throughout the region, with the latest Matt’s Maker Space coming soon to New Castle School District in Lawrence County, to go along with a new one in Westmoreland County’s Yough School District. Another is planned for UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Oakland as a therapeutic resource, according to Noelle.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Ezra Franey finishes drying his silkscreen project during the World’s Largest Matt’s Maker Space.
“We’ve been busy,” she acknowledged.
Mt. Lebanon High School certainly was busy for “World’s Largest” day, with maker stations set up all over the cafeteria, on the area overlooking it and in some of the classrooms.
“We want folks to be aware about what the maker movement is really about and how we’re implementing it in the elementary schools,” Marybeth Irvin, Mt. Lebanon’s assistant superintendent of elementary education, said. “It’s a great opportunity to bring the community together around a really exciting topic.”
The gathering was one of nearly 300 events scheduled as part of Remake Learning Days in Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Launched in 2016, the Remake Learning Network strives to provide hands-on, engaging, relevant and equitable learning experiences for children and their families.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Foster Elementary School first-grade teacher Stacy Chambers helps her student Ellie Ballani with a Matt’s Maker Space project.
Mt. Lebanon’s event featured substantial participation by teachers and parents from the elementary and middle schools.
“Each school was challenged to come up with activity and recruit some volunteers to do that,” Irvin explained. “We also have high school students here helping.”
All of that added up to a day of experiential learning, providing the youngsters in attendance with first-hand opportunities to see how various processes actually work.
And that’s the whole idea behind Matt’s Maker Space, which the Conovers are committed to supporting on behalf of children – adults, too – in Mt. Lebanon and beyond.
“This wouldn’t be possible without them,” Irvin said.
For more information, visit mattsmakerspace.org.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Tilden To works on a activity to determine how many strands of uncooked spaghetti will support a one-pound weight.