Great Things in Chicago!

by | Oct 23, 2020 | Christy, Great Projects

Christy Wang, maker-educator and volunteer treasurer of SteamHead, spends much of her quarantine time in service by making masks for those in need. Thus far, she has sewn and donated about 750 masks to organizations including Masks for Moms; Harmony, Hope & Healing; and to individuals within the community. Masks for Moms is an organization which has partnered with Chicagoland area hospitals providing masks to expectant mothers and their other children.

Working in education and serving the community is a family affair. Keith Nykaza, Christy’s husband and fellow maker-educator, has been contributing by using the laser cutter to help cut fabric en masse. Marge Nykaza, Christy’s mother-in-law, has been helping with final finishing and packaging the masks according to each organization’s requirements. Marge, a professional singer/music educator is the founder of Harmony, Hope & Healing.  Believing in music’s ability to heal, Marge started the work in 2000. Since that time, the organization has provided music classes, choir rehearsal and performance opportunities to thousands of individuals and families who are recovering from the traumas associated with homelessness, addiction, incarceration, and social isolation.

Besides volunteering her time to mask-making and keeping track of SteamHead’s finances, Christy has spent time developing her quarantine hobby of baking and decorating cookies. She hopes to help provide ongoing financial support to Steamhead via her new venture A Cookier’s Cabinet of Curiosities which will produce 3D printed hand illustrated cookie cutters. Christy and co-founder Oklahoma educator/talented artist Laurel Payne have happily committed to donate a portion of their profits to SteamHead. Both having spent time teaching in inner city Oklahoma public schools hope to make project based style teaching with access to technology available to all students, particularly those living in less fortunate circumstances.

Follow acookierscabinet on Instagram and support both SteamHead and your cookie habit on Etsy!

Zoom Reflectors

by | Oct 21, 2020 | Great Projects, SteamHead Spaces, Twila

Using John Umekubo’s (@jumekubo on Twitter) Pocket Document Camera design and Amazon boxes, Twila and Elisa Busby just finished cutting/scoring and gluing 120 reflectors for their Tucson, Arizona students. This device redirects a laptop camera from the student’s face to their keyboard, where they can set a paper to draw or write on.
Students can simply hold up a paper to show their work, but it requires a teacher to interrupt the work, break the creative flow, and move from a creative process to a presentation process. This handy mirror is easy to put in place when it’s time to get to work!
“No more holding up the papers trying to get them in front of the laptop camera. Now they can lay designs and work flat on the keyboard and we can see!”, says the duo.
The Tuscon school district will be remote for at least 1 month more and some kids for the whole year. These reflectors will be so helpful. Cost about 25¢ each.
This project extends beyond online-learning during the pandemic, because learning **with** computers and digital documentation is here to stay! Invest time and care into your online programs now, and carry them forward into the classrooms when we are all back together!

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