Event to feature more than 100 makers
By Heather Ruenz
SLN staff
More than 100 makers will be at Elkhorn Area Middle School Saturday to share their do-it-yourself projects at the Mini Maker Faire, from hobbies and unique inventions to prototypes and new products coming to market.
Attendees will have the opportunity to get up close and personal with the innovation, creativity, and ingenuity for which the faire is known.
In addition to the maker booths, the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile will greet visitors at the entry way, various talents will be showcased on the stage throughout the day, classrooms will be filled with hands-on workshops, there will be silent auction items, concessions, and visits from mascots including Snappy from the Beloit Snappers.
The event came to be after Eryca Card visited the Milwaukee Maker Faire.
“I knew it was exactly what our students and our community needed, and that I needed to try to bring it to Elkhorn. I contacted our Superintendent, Jason Tadlock, who supported the idea, and Rebecca Polack and I started planning,” Card, who is co-chairing the event with Polack, said.
“The Elkhorn Mini Maker Faire is a celebration of the maker movement. Our Maker Faire started as a small idea to encourage our student’s learning to come to real life by presenting their knowledge, talents, inventions, and showcase their talents, and it has grown into our first Mini Maker Faire. We are excited to include all types of makers, including tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, food artisans, hobbyists, engineers, science clubs, artists, students, and commercial exhibitors,” Card said.
She said the district has many maker spaces at all three levels – elementary, middle school and high school – and the maker faire is a way for the district to support the learning and tinkering that goes on in those spaces.
“When you look into the eyes of a student who is doing Project Lead the Way, creating, collaborating, and designing – you see the spark to their dreams, and you want to stop at nothing to get them to accomplish their dream,” Card said.
The Maker Faire is one of those opportunities for EASD students to learn from other makers, experiment with possible careers, bridge to the community, and learn things that they may have never known they’d enjoy doing if it wasn’t for the Maker Faire, she explained.
Tadlock said he’s looking forward to the event and is appreciative of the support from sponsors as well as the amount of work Card and Polack have put in to make it happen.
“It should be a wonderful new tradition for Elkhorn. Maker Faires are a blast and I think the participants will love the experience,” Tadlock said.
There will be concessions available, sponsored by the Elkhorn Area Middle School Student Council with prices ranging from 50 cents to $5.
There are also many makers that will be showcasing their talents as food artisans, and will be offering food at their booths – some for free, and some for a cost set by the individual maker.
Event sponsors include Precision Plus (Goldsmith), Edge Broadband (Silversmith), Form Wealth Advisors (Blacksmith) and other Friends of the Elkhorn Mini Maker Faire.
Elkhorn Area School District’s Mini Maker Faire, is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 27 at Elkhorn Area Middle School, 627 E. Court St.
Tickets can be reserved for free until early Friday evening or pay $1 at the door on Saturday. All attendees are asked to bring a donation for Lakeland Animal Shelter.
To order tickets, sign up to volunteer, see a list of items the animal shelter needs or for more information visit elkhorn.makerfaire.com.
