Hi,
I help out with cub scouts and we have something called Pinewood Derby coming up, where we give a wood block to the scout and they shape it into a racing car.
Is it permissible to have them (kids from 5 to 10 yo) meet up in the open area outside the workshop (where the tables are) and for them to design it while I do all the cutting?
Chuck
Minors (under 18) can be around, and in, the woodshop if a parent or supervising adult is closely (e.g. arm’s length) present. They cannot use any of the powered tools/equipment in the woodshop (or annex). Use of tools like the Ryobi drills, etc. are allowed in the workshop. Eye protection (e.g. safety glasses, face shield) is required while in the woodshop, but not the general workshop…although it is still advisable anywhere in the “shop” areas, which are inherently dangerous.
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Category:Wood_Shop#Age_Requirements
Cub Scouts are aged 5 to 10, right?
As a lawyer and DMS member, I’m curious to know how many of these 5-to-10 year old kids you intend to supervise directly while you are also “do(ing) all the cutting.” I’d feel better if they were confined to one of the classrooms – maybe the “utility” classroom where we used to store the ping-pong tables (next to the server room) or the Pillar of Solitude room. I think you’d need more than one adult involved in this. I also think that they SHOULD NOT be using hand-held power tools like the Ryobis.
I also invite you to join the Dallas Makerspace and get a green dot. Our facilities are only to be used by members and their immediate guests.
Chuck, you may need to have BOD weigh in. There is a lot to take into account. Every minor needs to have their Parent/Guardian come in and sign the waivers in the front lobby. Minors are also supposed to be directly supervised at all times. Typically bringing in your own child is not an issue, but bringing in a Cub Scout troop may have different rules.
@Julie-Harris @mrjimmy and rest of board.
My 2 cents. We are supposed to be a non-profit organization who supports the community. I’ve been a member of an organization that teaches Cub Scouts the principles of flight by building wood airplanes. I think having scouts out is a great idea. I would consider the Cub Scouts as a part of our community outreach.
Perhaps Chuck you could ask for volunteers to supervise the cubs scouts or even assist you in the construction of the derby cars. The scouts are supposed to the majority of the work right?
Regardless, if time permits I’m willing to help with this endeavor. I think it would be very educational to show the scouts what the woodshop is all about, too.
Anyone else willing to volunteer to host the scouts? Chuck, I would also recommend you join if you haven’t yet. You can’t actually use the equipment until you do.
Incidentally, I hosted a group of home-schooled children at DMS when I was teaching leathercraft. The kids had a great time, they learned something they could make with and their parents were most grateful.
Their parents must sign waivers, of course, but perhaps we could do this with a paper waiver document.
Not sure about cub scouts but I would be surprised if they differed. When I was involved with girl scouts the policy is you must have at least 2 adults present at all times with any number of children. In a situation like this, I would see you in the workshop not counting as one of these adults. These should be adults who are vetted via the boyscouts, not randos from makerspace. There are a lot of things unsupervised kids could break, steal, or hurt themselves on in the main shop room. I agree they would probably be better off in a classroom area, we have many of those options available.
You, as the person running the tools, will need to be certified in the woodshop.
Hi all,
First of all, thank you all for your speedy replies, the support of this group has always amazed me and continues to this day.
To answer various questions posted by @David_A_Tucker , @coloneldan , @Hanna_Kessler
I am a member, I just don’t know how to do the green dot thing.
My intent is to have the parents accompany the scouts. This is not meant to be daycare for them to drop the scouts off and leave.
I ran through the woodshop basics.
Each parent has been vetted.
Given all that, my intent is to ask for permission, understanding that “NO” is a very possible answer.
Do I need to get sign-offs from specific folks? Someone mentioned BOD, but I have no idea who they are.
Again, thank you all for your various replies. I wholly appreciate any input/feedback/comments.
Chuck
Thank you for volunteering to help with my endeavor. I will totally take you up on it because you sound way more competent than I am 
I will IM you (assuming I figure out how) with details like dates, time, and headcount if I end up getting the green light.
Side note, leathercraft sounds awesome and I would have loved to learn about that when I was a kid (still want to learn actually)!
Chuck I tagged two of the BOD in my message above so they should be alerted the next time they log in.
Let’s see how the derby goes, but I’d be willing to do a leather and lasers demo for the scouts with a hands on project where they stitch together a simple keychain.
OMG, this looks super awesome.
I agree, let’s see how pinewood derby goes (again, assuming I have permission) and if the kids can handle themselves, let’s have a chat about when you are free to do this (again, this looks super awesome)!
I would love to do more to support scouts! My kids will both be back in cub scouts as soon as the pandemic numbers are better. 
My preference would be to use the North Lobby Classroom so they don’t have to go into the work shop. The parents need to sign waivers, we have paper waivers that they can sign for the children. We need at least one parent per child to attend. If you would like to PM me, I’m happy to help you schedule the event on the calendar to reserve the room and will try to coordinate having a director or officer there to assist.
Click the magic blue link in my earlier message to you to launch you on an adventure . . .
This was magicked in yesterday, but as David notes, his post contains a link that will explain more if you like elucidation after-the-fact.
https://source.dallasmakerspace.org/display/Board
go to the “messages” menu under your avatar
select the welcome message from discobot
While jast has given you the long way to do a DM/PM/WhateverM, the quick way is to click the member’s name/tag in their posted reply. That pops up some info about the person, and lets you click the envelope to send them a message. I’m betting that all your reading and posting in this thread has pulled you over that threshold to be able to send a PM.
but that doesn’t walk a person through all the FUN Discourse has to offer like DiscoBOT does…
Thank you very much for the offer. I will PM you privately to set up the logistics.
Julie, the reason I like the idea of taking them into the woodshop is so that they can see what is going on. Otherwise, why doesn’t he just work on the cars himself and leave the scouts somewhere else.
It is the act of doing, or at least the act of observing that makes the visit memorable. Obviously, the use of power tools is out of the question, but just observing shouldn’t be an issue IMHO.
Otherwise, its just a kid sitting exercise and I’m not interested in just doing that.
My expectation is that he parents are going to want to see the place, too.
I 100% agree with your sentiments.
May I suggest that you consider getting some kids’ safety glasses? They’re about $1.5 - $2 each on Amazon. Perhaps each scout could retain his own glasses. It’s never to early to start kids on the right path of being safe.
I love this idea. It promotes safety and gives the kids a take-away. How many kids are there Chuck?
We should give them a real life safety briefing, too.
