Day 8: Celebrating International Women's Day

On this International Women's Day - a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, I can’t help but think about how fortunate I am to have such amazing tech savvy women in my network, especially those who so freely share their skills to empower others to create, make, and learn. 

With such amazing women like leading the way, it is no wonder that the Create Make Learn Summer Institute has seen over 200 women gain confidence through creating, making, and learning.

I hope you’ll join the Create Make Learn community, and add these women to your personal learning network, too!

Caty Wolfe

Caty started her education adventure 15+ years ago as a certified art teacher without a job. She became a special ed teacher at a technical center where she discovered she had technical aptitude and a fascination with fixing hardware and helping teachers integrate. She took on the duties of system administrator and then became the computer applications instructor. There is an interesting parallel between creative problem solving in the art world and technical troubleshooting. Thus began the adventure that has led her to be a PreTech Instructor at a Career and Technical Center with a focus on art and technology. She has integrated Design Thinking and Making into her curriculum and her students are always challenging her to push the boundaries. Her newest adventure has been to start an online store with Maker supplies and project ideas for teachers and kids! Check it out at www.theimaginationtoolbox.com! @ImagineToolbox

Shannon Walters

Caty started her education advetnure 15+ years ago as a certified art teacher. hannon Walters is passionate about using technology and the arts to create, collaborate, communicate and connect in new ways. She brings with her years of experience integrating technology as a Teacher Librarian and Technology Integration specialist at The Integrated Arts Academy in Burlington. Shannon is Co-Director for Governor’s Institutes of Vermont’s IT & Digital Media Institute @ Champlain College, a 10 day residential institute focused on game design, microcontrollers, cybersecurity, digital media creation and web design for high school students. Recipient of the Vermont Outstanding Teacher Award, she is Technology Concerns Chair for the Vermont School Library Association. Shannon has also served as a “Maker Space” lead learner for Tarrant Code Camp and Dynamic Landscapes state technology conference, as well as faculty at the University of Vermont.

Sarah Sutter
@edueyeview

Sarah Sutter is an award winning high school Art and Design Tech teacher at The American School in Japan in Tokyo, photographer, Google Certified Innovator, and amazing Maker of beautiful things. Her design program includes Design & Fabrication, and 3D Design (a visual arts class geared towards students who want to use makerspaces to create with a bias towards fine arts, including furniture design, product design, architecture, fashion, accessories, sculpture and more). She brings experiences from Fab 11 conference at MIT, Fab Learn Asia, and Fab Cafe Shibuya in Tokyo. Connect with Sarah and see what she’s up to with her students here.

Erica  Bertucci

Erica currently teaches STEAM to Pre-K through 8th graders at St. Albans City School and also job-shares the technology innovation specialist position. She enjoys working with teachers to incorporate ‘making’ in their classroom along with also facilitating open lab times in the makerspace to allow students to explore their passion (or find a new passion). She has spent the past few years developing curriculum for the different grades with a focus on primary grades and how to bring the maker mindset into her classes.


Gin Ferrara

Helping other people tell their stories gets Gin Ferrara up in the morning. She is the (new) Community Engagement Manager at RETN, and helps manage the educational and outreach work. For the past 2 years Gin has worked with RETN as an instructor, developing and co-teaching mobile media workshops. Having worked in video since the days of tape and decks bigger than a microwave, she has had a lot of experience learning new media. Outside of RETN, Gin is a multimedia storyteller, the co-founder of Wide Angle Youth Media, the owner of Spindle & Widget, and a co-host of Storytelling VT.

Jill Dawson

Jill Dawson is an educator, artist, and maker. Licensed as a middle and secondary humanities teacher, Jill holds an endorsement as a technology integration specialist. Since receiving an Ignite a Maker grant three years ago, Jill has been playing with code, experimenting with e-textiles, and teaching creative applications for circuitry in a variety of Vermont schools. In collaboration with RETN, Jill co-teaches a green screen workshop geared toward educators and their students. Learn more about Jill here.

Jackie Gerstein

Jackie Gerstein is a high school technology teacher and robotics mentor at Union County Magnet High School in New Jersey. As a technology education major, she was trained on facility design and management and safe use of tools and was introduced to 3D printing and CNC equipment. Since 2007, she’s been working to bring opportunities for hands-on project based learning to her students. In support of that goal, she worked with students and faculty to create a student-designed makerspace to support both class projects and students’ creativity. She combines coding, digital fabrication tools and more traditional shop skills to help students learn to modify the world they live in.

Lisa Yokana

An educator for over fifteen years, Lisa Yokana teaches art, architecture and design at Scarsdale High School, where she does extensive interdisciplinary and innovative teaching across the disciplines. She led the STEAM initiative at Scarsdale High School, creating a course sequence, writing curriculum and designing their Makerspace. Lisa is a coach for IDEO’s Teachers Guild, an online platform for changing education and mentors teachers from around the world. She is an author of curriculum for outside organizations including the U.S. History Advanced Placement course. Lisa has received grants from Scarsdale Schools’ Center for Innovation to research innovation education and spaces and to integrate Maker projects across levels. Agency by Design (Harvard’s Project Zero) selected Lisa as one of thirty Maker Teachers across the country to participate in their learning community. She leads Innovation Education, Design Thinking and Maker workshops for schools and teachers, which encourage and enable educators to shift their practice. She writes for national blogs documenting and celebrating innovative educational practices. Lisa earned her BA in Studio Art and French Literature from Williams College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her Master's Degree in Art History from Columbia University. She has a degree in building and district level administration from Stony Brook University. Lisa’s blog: http://innovated2x.blogspot.com/ Lisa tweets @lyokana59

Leah Joly

Leah Joly has experience as a classroom teacher, professional artist, math specialist, and workshop presenter. She is currently the middle school Design & Technology teacher at Williston Central School, where she has transformed the old “shop class” into a modern maker space classroom. Leah was one of the first recipients of the Ignite a Maker grant and spent two months in residence at Generator learning and working with others to gain more expertise with coding, and more specifically, eTextiles.


Elizabeth McCarthy

Elizabeth has been an educator in Vermont for the past 18 years supporting teachers and students in leveraging technologies for deeper learning. As a Google for Education Certified Trainer, McCarthy provides professional development workshops, trainings and presentations that focus on using the Google Apps ecosystem for digital learning. Elizabeth also teaches Multimedia Apps & Tools online for Community College of Vermont, enjoys writing poetry, running and is a beginning beekeeper.


Linda McSweeney

Linda McSweeney has over 30 years as an academic and school librarian. A graduate of Dickinson College and Rutgers University, her passion is providing professional development for digital immigrant educators (like herself!). She has taught graduate level courses on Google Apps, Virtual Library Design, and digital maker applications. She is a frequent presenter at ed tech and library conferences in Vermont and has presented at several Google Summits in New England.


 

Christine Braun

Christine is the I lab manager and engineer at The Nueva School. She has  taught STEAM based curriculum to all ages of children through her company Robots for Kids Too. These classes are taught in fifteen different schools, libraries and community centers throughout Vermont. I also coach robotics teams for FLL, FTC, MATE and Champ­-bot competitions. Along with developing new curriculum for R4K2, she also worked with the Innovation Lab at UVM to create a low cost robotic platform for use in school systems.

Sarah Roman

@A_BildungSROMAN

Marcia Gauvin 

K-6 Stem Coordinator 

Woodstock Elementary

And then here's me! 

Lucie deLaBruere

Create Make Learn Institute was founded by Lucie as part of her goal to be an ambassador of creativity and innovation in today’s schools. After spending 30 years in K12 education, Lucie and her husband Craig currently live and learn in a 1983 vintage Bluebird bus visiting creative spaces around the US and seeking ways to partner with educators and students who are passionate about creativity and innovation. Lucie teaches graduate courses at the University of Vermont and Marlboro College Graduate School and is also a Google Certified Innovator and Google for Education Certified Trainer and Raspberry Pi Certified Educator.

Now you know why the WHO question is a big part of our conversation when we talk about #makerspaces.