Emily: I believe there are a select few who get to shape the world we live in and that that’s not right. So, I want to have 16 year old high school students who are building 2,200 square foot farmers markets that change the face of their home town. I want to have 10 year old girls who walk in fearful and walk out having fused metal. I think that what we’re doing is changing who gets to make the world.

Emily: So, I’m going to hold it and you go really slowly, and it’s going to grab it and tighten it in place for you.

Emily: I spent a lot of my childhood in the woods building tree houses and I have always felt that there were things that I was learning outside of school–That I wasn’t able to access within school. I came into the education space with the training of an architect, but a lot of the ideals and passions of an educator. I knew there were things about architecture and design that had a place and could have a deep impact in a classroom. They can sand this out, that’s easy.

Emily: And then, it’s one, two, three, four holes. So that is what inspired me to leave a very traditional architecture and design path, and instead start my own non-profit. Project H Design to give young people a physical space, and the physical tools to make things and ideas real, and prove that a program like this can live in a K through 12 public space. The students that I’ve worked with, come to us with such different stories, whether these are 10 year old girls who I’m teaching how to weld, or they’re 17 year olds who are living in not so great family situations. I want them to leave my class feeling like whatever that thing is, it’s not an obstacle to their success and happiness. So, what motivates me and what is so rewarding is watching the transformation from that moment of fear or hesitation to a moment of confidence, accomplishment, and what’s next. I think that maker based learning really sticks with kids because it’s not just the act of making that is important, it’s knowing why you’re making something, and for whom.

Teacher: Great, great job. I really appreciate all the work you guys did today. One, two, three.

Emily: It is a challenge back onto the educational community to continue to push on the things we offer to kids within the school walls, and say, it doesn’t have to look like standardized testing all day long. It can look like architecture built by 16 year olds. We say that we’re never bored and we’re never done, and I’m certainly, neither of those two things.