Hi maker-friends,
As you may know, our son – Aidan (11 years old) – has been working on his nuclear fusor project for about a year and he benefitted SO much from the encouragement, support and guidance of the Science Committee at DMS. (HUGE shout-out to @Russell_Crow and I would shout-out everyone else but I don’t know everyone’s screenname here! But Kobin, Sam, and Rob were also incredibly supportive). Anyway, all of that is to say, that we saw the benefits of having a robust community of knowledgeable, amazing people and we also know that DMS isn’t really designed for kids (or short people – looking at you woodshop ;))
Anyway, with those experiences in mind, we’re starting a nonprofit makerspace-meets-idea-lab for “brainiacs with a bedtime” here in Dallas called Launchpad. We’ll start by serving the nerdiest middle schoolers in DFW and grow to serve high schoolers. We wanted to share this with y’all for a few reasons:
- To thank you – all of you – for truly being excellent to one another in such a way that you’ve modeled how we want the kids at Launchpad to be with one another;
- To encourage you to check out the website and possibly consider being a mentor to our space likely to be in the Design District. (@DPRG is currently representing 4 of our future mentors – thanks, guys!!);
- To invite you to share our info with kids/parents who might be looking for a place more tailored to kids;
- To connect us with local companies that you work at and/or who might be willing to partner/donate/sponsor our kiddos in the areas of woodshop, e-lab/robotics, 3-d printing, machining and fiber arts. Imagine a space where kids can design and build out a go-kart or a rocket: hose are the components “committees” we’re thinking of for this space;
- To encourage you to serve as a “Talent Scout” for future kiddos to be members if you are an educator/coach working with middle/high school kids.
- To introduce us to grant-making foundations/orgs that might be interested in helping us fund memberships for those who can’t afford it. It’s a nonprofit – IRS and Texas approved – and it’ll have a sliding scale membership fee. We don’t want their to be a financial barrier to entry – ever – and that’s going to take some fundraising.
If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns or interest in getting involved – please message me (Shirin) here. Also, if I’ve seen you in one of the 15 classes I’ve taken at DMS, this is what I was working on.
Thanks so much, y’all.
Shirin Foroudi & @Mark_M (and Aidan)