In Midvale, a sixth-grade girl curiously was examining the workings of Spheros, small, wheeled robots. In Murray, a junior high boy used wood, glue and string to craft a catapult. In South Jordan, an elementary-aged girl was looking forward to creating a 3D butterfly using Tinkercad.
Makerspaces allow opportunities for hands-on making, creating, designing and innovating that bring individuals together in a variety of mediums, including robotics, textile crafts, woodcrafts and electronics. Commonly found at some libraries, museums, colleges and at the Utah STEM Action Center, the number of these spaces for open exploration have increased, especially in schools, which has given students equal access as well as gain skills in STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
“Makerspaces need to be available and accessible,” said teacher Beth McKinney, who helped open…
