Saint John’s Catholic Prep has various opportunities to build scientific interest in STEM courses. For example, students can take anviation class, AOPA, offered at our school. David Giandrea, a senior in the class of 2023, decided to expand on that class and create his own club that would give opportunities for “hands-on STEM projects” for students. “Maker Space Club” serves as a way for students to apply the sciences to real-world situations.
David Giandrea finds it fascinating to learn about science, but he noticed that there wasn’t a way for students to apply the sciences they learn outside of the math and science classrooms. David sought to make a club for students to “fuel their own ideas and aspirations in STEM,” he states. He quickly began formulating ideas for the club and gauged interest across the school by putting up flyers and posters to spread awareness. The club gained the attention of numerous people at the school’s club fair and tthrough its social media page.
When asked about the major goals of the club and what it hopes to accomplish, David said he mainly wanted to do charity events to “donate back to the school and future Maker Space Club.” Additional projects would be building a cumulative technology project, a robot or drone from scratch, or doing smaller charity-based events from original 3D printed molds. So far, the club constructed a remote control car out of Legos, and worked with circuitry, 3D printing and design, and programming.
Although this club is fairly new, David intends for the club to meet at least once a week after the semester concludes. The Maker Space Club is a place to give SJCP students the STEM experiences they may not get in the classroom and provides a way to gain interest in the fields of STEM. Attend the next Maker Space meeting and see what’s going on!
The Viking Journal 