Makerspaces, or typically high-tech areas designated to building, creating, and learning in STEM subjects, are currently in high demand in schools and communities across the country. One father is giving back to his community after he built his son a makerspace in their home and became the talk of the town.

Will Pemble's makerspace in his house in Orinda, C.A., grew out of his son, Lyle's curiosity to build and create. Last year, when Lyle mused to his father about how cool it'd be to have a rollercoaster in their backyard, Will didn't brush it off or call it impossible. Will helped Lyle build it.

"'Wouldn't it be cool to have a roller coaster in our yard?' Pemble immediately admitted that it would, indeed, be cool. 'I flashed through the mechanics of it and figured it wouldn't be so hard to do, and that's why we built it,' he said. 'For me, it was a very natural response to a very reasonable question,'" he said, according to LaMorinda Weekly.

"Besides the roller coaster, which takes up most of the backyard, the living room walls are covered with framed pictures drawn by Lyle and his sister, Ellie. The 'work' area/lab, complete with computers, 3-D printer, robotic materials and lots of small pieces most visitors wouldn't be able to identify, fills about one-fifth of the living room, an area Pemble admits will likely take over the whole space in due time," the article said.

Pemble says his house is the favorite place of the neighborhood, and not just because of the roller coaster in the backyard. According to him, kids come to create and learn and ask questions about how things work.

Certainly, Pemble's family is one of creators. When his 13-year-old daughter Ellie wanted to see if her brother Lyle was entering her room while away, she created "the Brother Buster, a motion sensor that hooks to the computer and, when someone enters Ellie's room, sends her a text. Pemble, whose energy and creativity seem boundless, explained, 'All I wanted to do was teach her how to make something to solve her problem. And this was a 13-year-old girl's solution to a 13-year-old girl's issue. At one level or another, we are a family of makers,'" he said, according to the article.

Pemble hopes to take his family's affinity for creation and give back to the community by creating CoasterDad's Makerspace, a 4,500 square-foot site and will provide "classes in 3-D printing, drone and robot building, electronics, cooking, videography and YouTube production, as well as the opportunity" to invent the imaginative things kids come up with.

"The CoasterDad MakerSpace is a nonprofit organization and an Indiegogo fundraising campaign is underway to secure financial assistance. For more information, go to coasterdad.com."

Read the full story here and comment below. Check out ways to make your own makerspace here.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

07/01/2015