Valley News – Valley Parents: Claremont MakerSpace recruits instructors, participants for virtual classes geared toward kids

CLAREMONT — When the Claremont MakerSpace was looking for online instructors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacqueline Labate answered the call.

The Topsham, Vt., resident offered to teach math classes to children ages 8-12. If it wasn’t for the pandemic and the necessity for remote learning, the distance would have made it impossible for her to do so.

With a background in high school math, mathematics consulting and running a nonprofit organization, Labate sought to teach the answer to the proverbial adolescent question, “When am I going to use this in real life?”

In her first class, called design technology, students used math to build towers, bridges and even marshmallow launchers. In math art, she taught them how to use math to…