So, my daughter is going to the bew stem school..

And they have tasked us parents with assistance in getting supplies and stuff for their makerspace, shop class, etc.

This is a k-8 school, which is completely new. Our county has never had anything like it before. So, i want to, and will, do more than my part to get stuff and supplies.

My brothers wife is the lead for the whole shop side, hence the reason she reached out to me.

Im figuring that you guys can give me some ideas of what could be a good idea that i can scrounge up for cheap or free.

They had a handout for the pto meeting tonight, so when I get home ill post a picture.

Pretty much looking for ideas and suggestions, as well as where to stop. Never had any experience with this stuff.

Lakeshore Learning is one of my wife's (elementary teacher) favorite places for additional supplies and classroom stuff.

Seems there is a whole section of the website just on STEM.

Turns out that they even have a store in your area, near Dallas's place.
Link

Im not saying you have to buy all the items but follow the lead of this place and try to replicate some of what they offer.

MIG Welder.

Too soon?

In reply to Woody:

That's actually not a bad idea. Wonder if the Harbor Freight warranty would cover its use in a Makerspace at a children's School.

I bet they would, maybe talk to the manager of the local harbor freight (or email someone in the PR department) and see if they'd help sponsor the school. They do sponsor s lot of science and hand on learning programs these days.

In reply to RevRico:

I've never tried to do anything like that before. I'll swing by there tomorrow and see what happens.

If this is a public school I think passing a new tax increase to pay for all of this stuff through the school would be optimal. Usually the cheapest and most efficient way to acquire school supplies and staff.

Start a petition to add a tax to the next ballot.

Some may scoff but beyond the materials and stuff there will be a need for instructors to be hired that know how to teach the art, music, shop class, etc. Unless it is based on a volunteer model of instructor hiring, very rare. Repairs of equipment, replacement timing, safety management, etc are all future needs that funding will be needed for. I guess the beg for money nickel and dime model works for some (seems to be preferred by many new school districts thus the numerous trailer classrooms sales) but I would much rather have the school get a stable source of money for the next 50 years+.

At the risk of floundering the thread I'll touch base on funding for the school. We had to fight the county and the school board and the voters to even get a magnet school for our kids. The county did increased taxes to provide for the new staff and to reopen a closed School. There's not enough money in the county for getting all the programs going to make this school successful and what we want for our children. Therefore it's up to us parents that can and will to do what we can to help make the County's first Magnet School all that in hemby and all we want for our children. I for one am willing to do what I can and will in the fight for my year old daughter to have opportunities that I never did.

Any manufacturing in the area? Maybe call/drop in on a few companies and see if they have any old or unused equipment they may be able to donate. I know we have a few things sitting around that have little to no value beyond scrap (thinking like drill presses, bench grinders, welders that may or may not function but could possibly be rehabbed) that no one would miss but also aren't really worth the time or effort to dispose of.

From my family of educators and my personal experience helping at my son's school, maybe set up for volunteers to help get things ready the week before school. A few years ago I helped put together the cabinets and lab tables for a STEM lab. The normal janitors/PE coaches were a little outside their comfort zone.

Carlisle is a bit of a hike, but if its an open offer I'll figure it out! Not sure how to interpret what you wrote.

All the mills and such around here closed and were auctioned off years ago.

Stampie: I'll call the pto tree. That is a great idea.

Dusterbd13 wrote: In reply to Woody: That's actually not a bad idea. Wonder if the Harbor Freight warranty would cover its use in a Makerspace at a children's School.

For equipment like that, you may want to try contacting Lincoln, miller, hobart or the local welding supply company.

You may be able to get a better quality unit, and/or supplies donated/discounted from them.

The better quality/performance equipment will make it easier for the kids to learn, and less likley to get frustrated.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

I'm not in the position to offer, but I'd be willing to ask. Don't know that we'd necessarily have enough stuff to make it worth the trip though, TBH. I'll poke around this afternoon if I've got the time and see what there is upstairs that looks like it wouldn't be missed.

I more so meant ask around your area. Looks like you're not too far from Charlotte, I KNOW there's at least a bit of manufacturing in that area. Let me do some looking around and maybe I can find you some doors to knock on at least.

In reply to Furious_E:

You are the man. Thank you.

I don't have anything helpful to offer, but I keep thinking your daughter is going to stew bum school.

In reply to Duke:

Hopefully she will learn to type better than me.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

...and read better than me.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

Got you but more taxes (and efficient use of them) means less focus on hunting and gathering of materials/support and more focus on teaching and learning.

Also look into the Lego Mindstorm robotics. They are a well known name that you can request local business drop ship the packages to your school. I found that the local coffee shop could wrap their heads around Lego better than Bridgeport or MakerBot Replicator+. We were able to get a sizeable upgrade to the already existing set of lego robots.

Ooooo.

Im gonna have to look into those. Sounds like a genius idea. Thanks!

Our local vocational school gets a very good deal from the big licensed retailer (starts with H and ends with uan) looking to secure a blue or red buyer for life. A school machine is typically a big, multi-process thing that can suffer fools without breaking. I'm not sure if they buy or lease them - but when I was taking classes we were asked to buy our supplies from the fine folks who made it so affordable for the program to get good equipment and they would, in return, also give us a 20% student discount. It's good business - after classes - I bought my machine and my supplies there.

I'd go asking for those kinds of deals in all the areas where you want "maker" equipment before I bought some POS retail from a HF store. Local trades orgs should have established ways to foster and support fresh meat and get their pictures in the paper at the same time. Make some calls.

Basic electrical component kits. Bread boards. Find places you can scrounge up a variety of resistors, LED's, wires, electric motors, etc. Soldering irons and old circuit boards.

Reach out to your local chapter of the ARRL and they will likely hook you up with free ham radio equipment and offer support and teaching stuff. We did that for the 4-8th graders when I taught. Kids enjoyed getting ham radio licenses.

What is the ARRL?

"Bew stem" school sounds like a place where you learn to turbo charge cars.

Sounds like an awesome program, though! I hope your daughter does well in it.

Dusterbd13 wrote: What is the ARRL?

American Radio Relay League. They're the organization for amateur radio.

Duster, I sent you a pm earlier, don't know if you got it. I've got some local manufacturing firms you could reach out to.