BATON ROUGE, La. (BRProud) — The Knock Knock Children’s Museum is one of the regional hubs for the fourth cohort of the nationwide Making Spaces: Expanding Maker Education Across the Nation Initiative.
This initiative involves MakerEd, Google, Cognizant, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.
“The initiative aims to develop a national strategy to sustainably integrate making and tinkering into schools and learning environments across the country,” according to the Knock Knock Children’s Museum.
The ecosystem model calls for the Knock Knock Children’s Museum to work with selected sites over the span of two academic years.
“We know that STEM starts early and that there is a gap in professional development for early childhood educators,” said Cate Heroman, Education Chair for Knock Knock. “Through this initiative, we hope to build regional capacity to sustain, grow, and deepen the impact of maker-centered learning — an approach that fosters creative thinking and problem-solving.”
Knock Knock will work with educators who teach in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade Three.
The museum is looking to help jumpstart STEM approaches wherever kids learn whether inside or outside of a classroom.
“This is such an exciting and strategic project for Knock Knock Children’s Museum. First, being selected as a regional hub and second to have fantastic local schools join our first cohort of teachers,” said Executive Director Peter Claffey. “Knock Knock’s unique focus on Making and Tinkering with our earliest learners has been innovative and unique on a national level. We are so appreciative of Dow, a long-time sponsor of Knock Knock Children’s museum, for supporting our regional hub.”
You can find a list of the Making Spaces partnering locations below:
East Baton Rouge Parish
Capitol Elementary
Magnolia Woods Elementary
Villa del Rey Creative Arts and Sciences Magnet
Westdale Heights Academic Magnet
LSU Laboratory School
Carver Branch Library
Livingston Parish
Gray’s Creek Elementary
West Baton Rouge Parish
Caneview K-8
Brusly Elementary
