COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Our work is community-driven. We believe that programming and research should grow out of the needs, passions, and interests of the community it is based in.

UNCC | Fab Lab staff worked alongside teens to update the newly titled
“Mitchell’s Garden,” a community food garden on the side of their building. (Summer 2019)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MISSION

Our mission is to support and build youth-focused collaborative informal learning spaces that facilitate digital literacy and inclusion. We strive to build communities of fearless creators, problem solvers, and people who work within a fail-forward mindset. We hope to foster a drive to explore, tinker, and ultimately develop fluency and agency with design strategies.

Our work is community-driven. We believe that programming and research should grow out of the needs, passions, and interests of the community it is based in.

By developing long-term partnerships based in mutuality with community organizations, we build organizational capacity to foster richer learning opportunities, where youth can engage in project-based learning that is relevant to their experiences and interests.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

The great groups we're privileged to work with

TEEN ART
IN CU

Artists across C-U work together to organize a city-wide arts program and exhibition.

BRADLEY STEM CONFERENCE

From Player to Maker: Escape Room in a Box

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS & UPCOMING EVENTS

MARSHMALLOW CATAPULTS
During our regular programming at UNCC, teens designed and tested marshmallow catapults. They then competed to see whose catapult flung the marshmallow the furthest!
ESCAPE ROOM IN A BOX
The teens at UNCC worked together over the course of a week to build 2 different Escape Room experiences. They created the narratives and constructed all the clues and puzzles. Then they got to solve the opposite group’s puzzle!
NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH DREAAM HOUSE
We recently started a new partnership with DREAAM House. We introduced their teens to basic Makerspace tools and programs. They really enjoyed getting to make their own stickers!
TEEN ART MAKE NIGHTS
Teens from the Teen Art Council hosted a couple of make-night events for new teens to come and make art and learn more about the Teen Art Council. They really enjoyed having the Fab Lab to themselves to make whatever they fancied!
UNCC 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY QUILT
In celebration of UNCC’s 10 year anniversary, the youth at the center helped design and create a queen-sized quilt to give as a gift to Janice Mitchell, the founder and director.
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FABRIC MASK SEWING
UNCC Teen Covid-19 Response

“They’ve also learned how to be creative! One student took the liberty to look up other patterns and test them out and figure out what works well for them. That’s exactly what we’ve tried to instill in them, is the importance of basic knowledge paired with creative innovation. Once you know the basics on how to do something, then you can expand and explore to try new and creative ways to do a project. “
MITCHELL'S GARDEN
UNCC teens harvest vegetables they grew over the summer in their new community garden.
ART & TECH DESIGN
A high-school student at UNCC assembles the motion-activated light up acrylic sign that he designed and programmed across two afternoons.
PAPER CIRCUITS
Urbana Middle School students dive into a week-long series on circuitry
VIEW THE CURRICULUM
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60+

YOUTH PROGRAMS
IN SPRING 2020

300+

TEEN PARTICIPATIONS
THIS YEAR

ROBUST

RELATIONSHIPS WITH
COMMUNITY PILLARS