Bonesteel teaching an afterschool enrichment class. The first day project was marshmallow guns.

Last night I was flipping through an old Wired magazine and saw a RadioShack ad.  You may or may not know the series, technical projects with references to things you have never heard of.  This one intrigued me – make a rainwater collection system that by solar power pumps the water to a tank that by its location (up high) creates a pressurized tank for watering your garden, washing the car, etc..  I probably won’t make it, but the possibility prompted me to ponder, where would I work on such a thing or ask others for help if I wanted to?  There is the interwebs of course, but one thing I have learned while I have been associated with the Adult School in town is that the web is a weak substitute for face to face instruction or a personal community to help you learn something.

I’ve been a bit of a tinkerer for a long time.  I enjoy technology projects and it turns out I am not alone.  A week and a half ago the Worldwide Maker Faire was held in Queens, NY and many of my friends in town made the trek there to enjoy what was dubbed “The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth“.  I was also excited to see the story on Barista Kids last week about Lara Arda, of Glen Ridge, NJ, who won an award for her lemon battery project.  There is much talk of course in the press about STEM (Science, Tecnology, Engineering, and Math) support in our schools, but it’s my opinion that more is needed here in Montclair where those who are excited by these sorts of projects can come together to share knowledge, work on projects, and build some really cool things.  In short, I believe we need and deserve a Makerspace in or around Montclair.  To that end, I have pulled together a brief set of questions and answers about Makerspaces and how we could make one happen here.

Let’s jump in shall we?

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