U.S. Department of Education
CTE Makeover Challenge

The Carl Schurz High School makerspace will be an inviting and open space where students can play, express, and cultivate their curiosity in the DIY culture.

Meet the Makers at Carl Schurz High School

July Update

1. How is your vision for a makerspace innovative?

Schurz has an expert and proven team that can provide the highest quality of learning and teaching. Our makerspace will feature fixed and rotating maker stations that will invite the outside community to participate and exhibit their craft or skill.

2. What are you most excited to get started on this summer?

We are most excited about being able to use a room that has been absent of learning and transforming it into a central hub of intellect and making.

August Update

3. Can you describe the people who have been involved in your build out?

So far we have worked with a number of people to make this build out happen:

• Interim Principal, Schurz unexpectedly had a change in Principal and we have had to work with the Interim to address issues with the original room slotted for the makerspace
• Building engineers – the room originally projected for the makerspace had serious ventilation issues that would have costs tens of thousands of dollars to fix. Working with the engineers and Schurz Admin Team we were able to find another room of equal size that will be suitable. This room also needs some paint work and lead abatement, but it has the necessary ventilation and call box for security/safety are already in place
• Contractors – to complete necessary paint work and lead abatement
• Makerspace experts – the team visited a local high school with an existing makerspace to ask questions about how they built the space out and gathered tips on the kinds of equipment and materials that work best

4. What has been the most challenging part of the summer build out thus far?

There have been a number of challenges thus far:

• Schurz Principal change: The previous Principal decided to opt out of his contract at the end of the school year and we are just getting to know the new Interim Principal. This creates some uncertainty moving forward, but she has been very receptive of the makerspace build out
• Schurz High School has had the largest budget cut of any school in the Chicago Public Schools, amounting to about 2 million dollars less than the previous year. Many faculty and staff members will be let go and resources for the school will be substantially less. This also creates a great deal of uncertainty about special projects happening in the building including our build out
• The original room selected was found to unsuitable by the engineering staff due to ventilation issues and safety concerns (no call box), repairs would be too costly to complete. Another room of comparable size was found, but this has created a delay in the process of getting the room ready

5. Have you made adjustments to your original plan since starting your build out? If so, can you describe how you have changed your plan and what sparked the change?