Wooden train sets are among the creative toys new Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Adademy Librarian Selena Seymour would like the community to donate to the school’s library, which she plans to turn into a makerspace for hands-on learning.It won’t be long till school is back in session, and new Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy Librarian Selena Seymour wants to transform the school’s outdated library into a modern makerspace for hands-on learning.
Seymour said she comes to Calvin Donaldson from Normal Park Museum Magnet School, which used a makerspace in its project-based learning model for students to build exhibits showing what they learned each quarter. The makerspaces at Normal Park, Red Bank Elementary and Clifton Hills Elementary, as well as at the Chattanooga Public Library, inspired her to create a similar space at Calvin Donaldson, she said.
To help make the makerspace a reality, she is asking the community for donations of new or used creative toys appropriate for 4- to 10-year-old students, including Legos, puzzles, dress-up clothes, large picture frames, snap circuits and wooden train sets.
“One of the things I noticed when teaching about electricity or magnets [in the Normal Park makerspace] was that students would learn and ask questions intuitively,” she said. “It’s a great way to make them active in their learning.”
Seymour is also asking for brightly colored pillows, rugs, lamps and child-friendly seating to help brighten the space, which she said is currently decorated in drab shades of brown.