Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
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REQUEST FOR PARTNERS:
KICKSTARTING MAKING IN SCHOOLS
Issue Date: Monday, March 16, 2015
Closing Date and Time: April 24, 2015
Notifications: May 11, 2015
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REFER INQUIRIES TO:
Teresa DeFlitch, Kickstarting Making Project Manager
[email protected]
724-331-7968
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Submit your application via SurveyMonkey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/kickstartingmakingcmp
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Join us for a unique opportunity to be one of the first
Kickstarting Making Schools in the country!
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Educators across the country are exploring making and the ways in which these learning experiences inspire engagement, creativity, persistence, and entrepreneurship in
learners of all ages.
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The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is excited to announce a special opportunity for
your school to gain national recognition while working with the Museum to design, implement and fund maker-inspired learning experiences at your school through highquality professional development and training in online fundraising.
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This is a new framework for partnership that seeks to create avenues for schools to
learn more about making, interact with community partners, and raise necessary
funds to create learning experiences that inspire the next generation of innovators.
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The Kickstarting Making Project is an initiative of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
with educational support from Kickstarter. The Project is made possible by the support of The Grable Foundation. Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
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Request for Applications
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh requests applications from public, charter, independent, magnet, and other schools, grades pre K to 12, located in western Pennsylvania
to participate in the inaugural Kickstarting Making Project.
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The Kickstarting Making Project
The Kickstarting Making Project is an initiative of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
with support from Kickstarter, an online crowd funding platform. The Kickstarting
Making Project is designed to enable selected schools in western Pennsylvania to design, fund and implement a sustainable maker-related project during the 2015-2016
academic year. Selected schools will be supported through high-quality professional
development from the Museum and Kickstarter.
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In partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh selected schools will:
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• Design and implement a maker-related project for their schools during the
2015-2016 academic year.
• Participate in ongoing professional development with Museum staff beginning June
2015 including ongoing support from the Kickstarting Making Project Manager.
• Administer a campaign using the online platform Kickstarter to fund the purchase of
materials, equipment and supplies; and cover professional development costs.
• Engage with other educators through quarterly online meetings during the 2015-2016
academic year.
• Have the opportunity to participate as makers at the Pittsburgh MakerFaire in October 2015.
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Contribute to research and evaluation efforts to share this work with the field.
The Application Process
Schools are invited to submit an application as outlined below (please use the following link to apply: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/kickstartingmakingcmp. The
Museum’s Department of Learning and Research will select six schools to participate
based on the following criteria:
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• the strength of the proposed idea and how it exemplifies making as a learning
process
• the capacity of the school to successfully participate in the partnership and implement their project
• the school offers strategic variability in relation to other applicants in terms of type,
population, location, and other factors
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Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Application Submission Instructions
Please access the Kickstarting Making in Schools application via SurveyMonkey at this
web address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/kickstartingmakingcmp. Applications will only be accepted until Friday, April 24.
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The online application will ask you to provide the following information:
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I. Contact Information
Please provide the name, title, email, and phone number of the main point of contact.
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II. Type of School
Please tell us about your school, including what grade levels, type of school and population you serve, which may include information concerning some or all of the following: income level(s), gender, special needs, and grade levels.
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III. Exploring Making at Your School Narrative (three to four paragraphs)
How do you imagine integrating making as a learning process at your school? What
maker-inspired project(s) would you propose be the focus of your partnership with the
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh?
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Try to flesh out your idea(s) as much as possible but keep in mind we understand
schools have different levels of familiarity and comfort with making. If integrating
making as a learning process is new to your school, let us know.
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• Your narrative should be clear about what type(s) of projects you are considering,
such as:
• the transformation of a space into a makerspace (a ‘makerspace’ is a
space that often includes different types of tools, equipment, and work
places that allow people to gather, invent, and learn)
• an after school program
• elective class
• content area integration
• out-of-school time community event
• other ideas
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• Detail when and how during the school day the project will take place. What grade
levels will participate? How many students will the project target? How many teachers?
• Include details about ways you may have already integrated making at your school.
If making is new to or not a current part of your school, address why you are interested in integrating it at your school.
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Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
• To guide your narrative consider using the following Principles of Practice for making
as a learning process that were developed by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
MAKESHOP staff.
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Inquire
Making experiences encourage exploration and inquiry through access to a variety of real materials, tools and processes.
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Tinker
Making experiences are process-oriented, and provide opportunities for extended purposeful play, testing, risk-taking and evaluating properties of materials, tools and processes.
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Seek and Share Resources
Making experiences encourage learners to value, seek out, contribute to, and
share expertise with and among the community.
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Hack and Repurpose
Making experiences inspire learners to identify and use familiar tools, materials, processes and ideas in new ways.
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Express Intention
Making experiences are learner-driven, choice-based and empower leaners’ development and refinement of interest, identity and personal learning pathways.
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Develop Fluency
Making experiences develop comfort and competence with diverse tools, materials and processes by providing an approachable, accessible and supportive
learning context.
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Simplify to Complexify
Making experiences enable learners to demonstrate, expand, deepen, and
challenge their understanding of materials, tools and processes, by providing
opportunities to connect and combine component elements to make new
meaning.
III. Self-Assessment (one to two paragraphs per question)
1. If you added one more principle to the MAKESHOP Principles of Practice what would
it be? What learning and/or behaviors do you think are important for making that
are not captured in the practices?
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2. How does your school make time for teachers to explore and plan for innovative
instructional practices?!
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Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
IV. Team
List and describe the core team that would work on your proposed project(s). Describe what roles they might play and why. Please include at least one administrator
on your team.
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V. Budget
Should your school be chosen as a Kickstarting Making School you will work with Museum staff to construct an appropriate budget that will form the basis of your online
fundraising campaign through Kickstarter. Museum and Kickstarter staff will support
your school in the development and execution of your online campaign.
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Tips for a Strong Proposal
• Consider your local context. What might work best for your school? Describe how
your idea fits into your priorities, capabilities, and environment.
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• Consider how you might form a cross-disciplinary team for development and implementation, including administrators, teachers, facilities managers, parents, and
most especially students.
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• Make sure not to address spaces, materials, and equipment without exploring making in terms of learners, instructional strategies, mindsets, and ideas.
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• Be as specific as possible; avoid listing jargon terms like STEAM, STEM, etc.
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• If you can reference local or national projects as points of inspiration and best practices.
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Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Information Sessions: Explore Your Application Ideas with Museum Staff
Google Hangout - Tuesday, April 7 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Participate in a Google Hangout with museum staff, including Rebecca Grabman,
MAKESHOP Manager, Samantha Ellwood, Associate Director of Educational Programs,
and Peter Wardrip, Learning Scientist, as they explore the MAKESHOP Principles of
Practice and ways schools can integrate making in creative ways. Get inspired with
ideas for your school and have the opportunity to ask questions that may assist in the
development of your application.
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Email Teresa DeFlitch at [email protected] to register.
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Information Sessions
Westmoreland Intermediate Unit - Wednesday, March 25 from 3:30pm to 4:30pm.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit - To be determined
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh - Thursday, April 9 from 3:45pm to 4:45pm
Join Kickstarting Making Project Manager at an information session to review the application process, brainstorm ideas, and answer any questions you might have.
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Email Teresa DeFlitch at [email protected] to register.
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Individual Session - Contact to Schedule
Kickstarting Making Project Manager, Teresa DeFlitch, is happy to talk with you in person or over the phone about the application process and your ideas. Please get in
touch with Teresa at [email protected] or 724-331-7968 as soon as possible
but no later than Monday, April 13 if you would like to schedule a session.
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We are also happy to arrange a visit for your team to the MAKESHOP at the Children’s
Museum of Pittsburgh.
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REFER INQUIRIES TO:
Teresa DeFlitch, Kickstarting Making Project Manager
[email protected]
724-331-7968
Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
COMMITMENT
• Schools will be notified by mid-May and should anticipate beginning project planning
soon after being notified.
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• Schools will be expected to work with the Kickstarting Making Project Manager and
Kickstarter to conceptualize and run a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the
projects.
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• The Kickstarting Making Project Manager is available to assist and support schools in
the development and implementation of their projects. As such the Project Manager
will work with each school to develop means of communication and assistance that
works for the school. Once this is established schools will be expected to keep the
Project Manager informed as their project progresses.
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• At least one teacher and one administrator must take part in a two-day professional
development workshop at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh in June.
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• Teachers will be invited to observe and/or co-facilitate one workshop at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh during the summer of 2015.
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• Project teams must participate in a quarterly check-in meeting with other schools
implementing projects beginning September 2015.
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• Schools are expected to implement the project during the 2015-2016 academic year,
although work on the project will begin in June 2015.
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• Schools are expected to assist Museum staff with documentation, evaluation, and
research in order to develop ideas and strategies that others may adopt as they integrate making at their schools. This will be facilitated by the Kickstarting Making
Project Manager and researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments.
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SPECIAL CONDITIONS
A. Right to Cancel:
• The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh reserves the right to cancel or revise
this request for application in part or in its entirety at any time. The CMP
will notify all parties of any cancellation or revisions.
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B. Questions and Communication:
• All contact, questions or requests for information regarding this request for
application must be limited to Teresa DeFlitch, Kickstarting Making Project
Kickstarting Making !
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Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Manager. Any communications with other Children’s Museum staff, board
members, advisors, and committee members or other project consultants
regarding this application during the application period is a basis for disqualification.
C.Reservations:
• This application does not commit the CMP to award a contract, to defray
any costs incurred in the preparation of a proposal pursuant to this application, or to procure contract for work.
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D.Right to Reject:
• The CMP reserves the right to reject any and all proposals.
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E. Additional Information:
• The CMP reserves the right to request additional information and/or clarifications.