Your good deed for the day: Help Cascade Locks, Oregon, fund a permanent LEGO robotics program

Remember that awesome #FutureBus from Beaverton School District? You know that Magic-School-Bus-ish mobile makerspace that allows students in the district to creatively engage with technology and making? Obviously, it was designed to be taken on the road. But I just learned that they took it on a road trip. To Cascade Locks, Oregon. And that experiment resulted in an interesting experience — and an opportunity.

In December of 2017 we took our BSD FutureBus to Cascade Locks elementary school for a day of design thinking, electronics and lego robotics. It was one of our best days ever. It was such an incredible opportunity to share ideas, work together, build empathy and explore deep engagement in school. We left a few of our lego kits behind for them to borrow, and they have been using them almost non stop ever since. Their principal, Amy Moreland, says that the lego robotics kits have engaged many of the kids on a level that they have never seen before. We would like to buy some of the kits for Cascade Locks to have permanently. Their teachers and kids are already all in on giving kids the opportunity to engage in deep thinking and empathy through design, programming, and making. Let’s give them the tools to make this a permanent part of their school experience.

This kind of stuff always hits close to home for me. I grew up in rural Idaho. And if it wasn’t for teachers introducing me to the TRS-80 way back when and then this wacky Macintosh thing in the 80s, I’m fairly confident I wouldn’t be lucky enough to be doing what I’m doing today. Or even writing this blog.

Because of that experience, I remain a firm believer that talent and entrepreneurship can be found anywhere. But we have to give folks accessible avenues to express themselves and experience their potential. This is a chance to do that. So if you’ve got a couple of bucks you can kick toward the project, it would be greatly appreciated.

Plus, then you can go into the weekend feeling a sense of accomplishment. You know, rather than the usual sense of dread and pervading ennui you generally have about your startup.

For more information or to donate, visit Cascade Locks Lego Robotics Package.

Originally published at siliconflorist.com on March 16, 2018.