A Love Affair With Learning: How One Tinker is Spreading the Contagion
If Cam Turner, founder of MakerClub (recently renamed Access Wednesdays), had a spirit animal it would be Calvin and Hobbes. The most unique and celebrated of comic beasts.
It’s only work if somebody makes you do it. It’s only work if somebody makes you do it. It’s only work if somebody makes you do it… A sentiment that echoes (and echoes) in so many parents’ and educators’ ears — poor souls that encounter firsthand the nasty consequences of making children do what they don’t want to do. The proverbial fun sponges of the world.
Cam is the opposite of a fun sponge. He puts Fun out into the universe and teaches it how to thrive. In large part because he’s red hot passionate about the way children learn. That’s why he left an illustrious career in Software Engineering Management to pursue TinkerTruck (more on that below) following on the coattails of his wildly successful child-and-parent club, a place dedicated entirely to, “…creating the self-sufficiency and confidence needed [in children] to try to make or fix what our minds imagine.” (570 News Staff)
Cam’s intense passion and belief in helping children stay in love with learning has never been more obvious than when he turned to his son and asked, “What do you want to do more of with your friends?” Because when his son answered, “Make things!” Cam didn’t just build a rocket launcher, he created MakerClub. A safe place for all kids to come hang out and build rocket launchers, together!
Under adult supervision, of course.
Truthfully, the club doesn’t focus on building rocket launchers (sorry parents). It focuses on developing key skills like self-confidence and perseverance through hands on self-discovery. Key skills that help children stay in love with learning as they grow into crusty old adults, so that as they calcify like the rest of us, they maintain a beginner’s mind and never cease discovering new things. Like 3D printing playdough for the first time ever!
The way I see it, once something joyful — like Learning — loses all its Fun, it becomes Work. To many children Work is The Enemy. That-which-should-be-avoided-at-all-costs. It’s a lesson we learn young and ubiquitously because education systems are literal fun sponges, and today’s parents are insanely occupied. But once that transformation from Learning is Fun (ʘ‿ʘ) to Learning is Work ಠ~ಠ happens in a person, it can be very detrimental to his or her long term happiness.
Brent Wettlaufer’s tumultuous love affair with learning is a great example of how a broken relationship with learning can impact a person’s development.
Cam Turner wants to keep that relationship healthy. To make it thrive. He wants to preserve the Fun aspects of Learning; the parts of self-discovery that encourage children to keep trying instead of being discouraged and walking away rejected.
That’s why he started a club in partnership with THEMUSEUM, and that’s why he’s passing the reins on to Brent. Cam’s changing gears and focusing on his new initiative, TinkerTruck, a social enterprise that seeks to bring the benefits of maker culture to all children in Southern Ontario.
The minute Cam and I began talking, I knew we’d be fast friends. We both reference Calvin and Hobbes like it’s Zeus’ greatest gift to Hera, and we’re both passionate about preserving that which makes the Kitchener Waterloo region great. Our community is one where compassion and curiosity are rewarded. The people here understand that for innovation to benefit everyone, it needs to be done with each other in mind.
Like how Simon’s Precious Plastic Project demonstrates the power of maker culture, so too does Access Wednesdays. Makers bring the best of what the arts and sciences have to offer, together, to develop greatness in others. In our children. In our future.
Which kind of makes Cam a time-travelling super hero, on a mission to help kids like Calvin have a future to look forward to at all.
