Aberdeen, WA - SparkTruck, an educational project out of Stanford’s d.school, is driving to Aberdeen to shine the spotlight on hands-on learning as part of their cross-country “Sparkin’ Across America” tour. Aberdeen High School Graduate, Aaron Peck, was among the founding members of SparkTruck, and the team is excited to come to town. In their two workshops at the Aberdeen Timberland Library on Tuesday, July 17 the SparkTruck team will help young visitors find a sense of “buildy” confidence through the creation of Creature Vibrobots and Creature Copters.  SparkTruck will be parked at the Aberdeen Timberland Library located at 121 East Market Street in the library’s parking lot at the corner or I and Wishkah Streets for the following workshops:
- 1-2 p.m. Creature Vibrobot Workshop (suggested ages 7-12)
- 3-5 p. m. Creature Copter Workshop (suggested ages 10-13)
Please call the library at 360 533-2360 to register. There is a limit of 20 children per workshop. These workshops are made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Aberdeen Timberland Library.
About SparkTruck
SparkTruck is inspiration on wheels. It is a step van full of 21st century shop tools like a laser cutter and 3D printers, and it brings these tools, space, and resources for sparking creativity to children. It was conceived by a group of six Stanford University graduate students in design, engineering and education during the 2011-12 school year. This summer, in partnership with Instructables and PBS’s Design Squad Nation, SparkTruck is running workshops at schools, camps and museums in cities like San Francisco, Bellevue, Austin, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Kicking off at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June, the truck then swings through the Pacific Northwest visiting Seattle, Aberdeen, and Portland before heading back across the Rockies towards the Atlantic. In mid-October, SparkTruck will make its final stop at TEDx Manhattan Beach, where the team will share stories from their cross-country adventures in making.
SparkTruck has received praise from teachers, students, and parents, and has been featured in press like Core77, The Stanford Daily, The Huffington Post and MAKE. At Maker Faire, Bay Area’s festival of hands-on creativity, SparkTruck garnered an Editor’s Choice Blue Ribbon Award. David Kelley, founder of the global design firm IDEO and the team’s advisor, said, “It’s really exciting to see you bringing this creative confidence back to students… this is the kind of learning that really sticks with kids.” For more information, photos, and videos about SparkTruck and the “Sparkin’ Across America” tour, visit http://www.sparktruck.org.
For more information about Instructables and PBS’s Design Squad Nation visit http://www.instructables.com and http://pbskids.org/designsquad/.
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