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 * LOS ANGELES MAKERSPACE **

Los Angeles Makerspace [] Twitter [|@lamakerspace] Facebook [] Google Group [] G+ Community [] Email awesome@lamakerspace.com
 * CONTACT **

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 * CLASSES AND EVENTS **

LA Makerspace is a non-profit member driven community space for makers, tinkerers and DIYers of all ages to create and collaborate. Our mission is to provide a place where kids can make and learn alongside adults and where members can work on their own projects while learning new, unique maker skills through our workshops, on-going interest-based programs, mentorship and peer learning environment. We offer affordable classes, access to equipment, and member work and storage space.
 * ABOUT US **

Our volunteers, mentors and instructors hail from different backgrounds and skill sets, including: Software Engineers, Hardware Engineers, Artists, Scientists, Teachers, Filmmakers, Roboticists, Rocket Scientists, Librarians, Executives, Entrepreneurs, Moms, and Dads dedicated to the proposition that making things is essential to creating an awesome society. This diversity of talents and interests is currently reflected in our Board of Directors.

This space is an experiment to bridge the gap between academia and the community-at-large, establish a peer-to-peer mentorship network, and give members the chance to apprentice into a whole variety of fields ranging from industrial design to data analysis. Success then will be determined by the number of our members, especially of school age, who we can help connect to outside research and apprenticeship programs in addition to the size and scope of the peer network we can build between our members.

Makerspaces (aka Hackerspaces) provide shared physical resources otherwise unaffordable or attainable by an individual or family. They provide a fluid workspace as well as the collaboration, inspiration and encouragement of others. We want to appeal to youth, families, school groups, stay-at-home-parents, home-schooled kids and individuals that are comfortable working around and with kids.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">MAKERSPACES **

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The maker movement, as it pertains to education, seeks to build the confidence, analytic skills, and creativity of those involved by establishing an environment centered on the creative act. This collaborative and project-based approach to learning runs counter to the current trend in education of defining academic success in terms of standardized tests, especially at the cost of hands-on programs such as shop, art, and laboratory science. By establishing a permanent physical location for Los Angeles Young Makers students, and their families, will have a place to learn about engineering, design, and research through both organized classes as well as open-ended projects.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Physically, a successful community makerspace will exist as a large space placed conveniently within reach of public transportation so as to provide ready access to a variety of neighborhoods independent of their socioeconomic status. As a community it will be able to provide a network for people to collaborate and teach one another on a whole host of projects. As an educational endeavor it will provide both a meeting point between the community and established research group outreach efforts, as well as a lab space for community members to develop their own citizen science projects.


 * RESOURCES **