Camp Special Edition May 2024

Written By Isabel Velasco

A Message from Mike

 

8 years ago I founded Maplewoodshop at the 2nd annual Maker Madness. The year before, 2015, was the first time I got to do woodworking with kids and found my purpose. I opened a storefront woodworking school in 2016 with the mission of helping all children develop life skills through woodworking. By January 2017, I had pivoted to focus on helping teachers, camp leaders, and community organizers to incorporate woodworking into their existing programs. 

At this point, Maplewoodshop has spun up over 160 programs nationwide and internationally!

While we love supporting professional educators, you can see on my face where my happy place is.  

I thank my team, Yabranna, Michael, John, for joining me on this anniversary and here's to an amazing year!

Mike

Did you know?

As many schools head into testing season, let's talk about what it means to know something and the concept of embodied learning. Research published in the Journal of Technology Education shows that hands on activities are effective learning experiences. Want to learn more? Please read this abstract below or go to the source.

Do Hands-On, Technology-Based Activities Enhance Learning by Reinforcing Cognitive Knowledge and Retention?

The purpose of this study was to deter mine if hands-on technology-based activities enhance learning among eighth grade students by reinforcing cognitive knowledge and improving retention.  Generally, it was designed to find out if increases in knowledge and subject interest were greater for those students given the opportunity to reinforce learning through laboratory activities.  Specifically, the study addressed the following questions:

From the statistical comparisons of Group A and Group B on post-test #1, it can be stated that there is a significant difference between learning with and without hands-on activities.  The results suggest that organized psychomotor participation increases the learning of a given technological concept.  It can be generalized that hands-on activities are effective learning experiences for any applicable concept.

Funding Sources

There is an opportunity to fund middle school career exploration following the model of NJ. Please use this and see if your state also has funds allocated. These are the crucial years yet funding is minimal. 

Let's work to change that.

Learn about the NJ Middle Grades Career Awareness and Exploration Grant

 

Program Updates

MATH!

Whether you are learning fractions, unit measurement, or preparing for a career in the trades, woodworking is the IDEAL way to apply concepts in real world situations. 

 We are prototyping our fraction box and so far the time to beat is 35 seconds from a millwright instructor! 

 Want to use hands on math for your students? Give our wonderful Account Executive John a holler here.


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The Orange Pencil Award

Congratulations, again :) to Sarah Trexler and Eagle Academy for Young Men of Harlem. In a small classroom, Sarah is helping young men learn valuable life skills and making introductions to the carpenters union via our hand tool woodworking program. We love the signage and positive encouragement Sarah generates each day. 

Welcome to the Family

Welcome one and welcome all!

  • Nanuet, NY Independent School District

  • Lyons County, NV School District

  • Mid-Island Day Camp

Upcoming events

Eastern Atlantic States Training Center Open Houses

  • Philadelphia on 5/3

  • Pittsburgh on 5/4

Past
Upcoming

Upper Marlboro, MD on 5/17
Edison, NJ on 5/30

Isabel Velasco
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Sawdust News June 2024
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Camp Special Edition March 2024