FLINT, Michigan—Seniors Aaron Walker and Dianna Johnson of Flint Southwestern Classical Academy huddle over a laptop as they load up a computer-aided design program (CAD). Though school is almost over, the students decide to stay after class and explore SCA’s newly minted makerspace. It’s a first for any Flint community school and administrators are ready to get kids learning, one group of students at a time.
Walker slams the enter key with purpose and the machine in front of him buzzes to life. The two students are only a handful of teens whose applications were accepted to gain authority in using, learning, and teaching the material—all under teacher Suzanne Lossing’s watch of course.
Lossing, art teacher and current Virtual Reality and Makerspace Coordinator at the school, had reached out to other teachers asking for recommendations on who would benefit from the arrival…