Future Fridays

     This past Friday, during Vermilion High School lunch periods, we held our first Future Friday symposium providing our students time to explore some new technology trends and tinker with some traditional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) tools, such as robotic kits and building blocks.  A favorite included the banana piano, created by using a program in Scratch and the MakeyMakey, a device which can turn any conductor into a keyboard.  The Sphero robot was a huge hit with its maneuverability, speed, and multi-colored lights.  Students were astounded when they were magically transported to a museum through a VR (Virtual Reality) app using the updated View-Master.  And it wouldn't have been Future Friday without the versatile Raspberry Pi, a single-board computer that can be used for a limitless number of projects and applications.
     Future Fridays were started to incorporate STEM concepts for our high school students and solicit their ideas about creating a Makerspace at the high school.  A Makerspace is a creative work place for the members of a community to put their ideas into practice.  Many libraries, such as the Cleveland Public Library have converted a portion of their building into a Makerspace and are now offering access to equipment and services, such as 3D printing.  For instance, you can create a 3D file (.STL file) from home, send it to the Cleveland Public Library, they print it out for you on a 3D printer and you pick it up a week later for a nominal fee.  More and more schools are following this trend and are devoting resources to setting up their own Makerspace areas.  The idea is to provide students the opportunity to use their imaginations to invent solutions to problems while learning perseverance, for most solutions are achieved only through a process requiring numerous attempts and modifications.

Makey Makey Banana Piano

Sphero SPRK Robot

Raspberry Pi

View-Master VR

Become involved as a teacher in your building by contacting your principal.  We are currently looking for volunteers to form a STEAM (Art too) committee.  If you are a student and would like to get involved, please begin by completing this form: http://goo.gl/forms/f5FvrQqTzw 
You can also contact Mrs. Bengele for more information.