Evanston Y.O.U. receives grant to update maker space equipment

Evanston Y.O.U., a youth development organization, has been chosen to receive a $32,608 grant from Exelon for its maker space.

The maker space, which opened at 1911 Church Street in 2015, is available for Evanston students to tinker and explore in a S.T.E.A.M workspace while filling in education gaps. Funds will be used to update equipment at the maker space to give students the best experience possible.

“It’s a great space to give our students the opportunity to work in S.T.E.M., S.T.E.A.M., art, a little bit of everything,” said Maker Space Manager Allen Moore. “We also try very hard to kind of bridge that gap for Black and brown students in Evanston and in general — giving them a space to be safe and explore fun new technologies.”

Moore said the program is extremely popular especially among the younger elementary and middle school-aged kids. The maker space also hosts after-school hours for high school students Monday through Friday. He said he’s hoping to encourage more young students and open up access for them.

Moore has been meeting with local schools to help get kids on board.

The grant is part of over $850,000 being donated to 28 schools and education-focused nonprofits across the country. Applicants were able to apply for up to $50,000 in funding for projects in educational spaces designed to help prepare students for careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

“STEM skills are critically important to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s careers,” Calvin Butler, president and chief operating officer of Exelon said in a news release. “By partnering with organizations who help students outside of the school day, we give educators the resources they need to train young people in fields that will lead to good jobs. We hope that one day these students can work for us, helping Exelon lead the clean energy transformation.”

Y.O.U.’s Executive Director of Advancement Laurie Dayon said much of the technology at the maker space is fairly outdated, having been purchased in 2015 during the capital campaign to get the maker space started.

“It was brand new equipment then. Really great, really exciting,” Dayon said. “You did have a pandemic hit, so then we became very focused on just serving the youth and things got a little stagnant. As we were coming out of COVID and now we’re to the point where our numbers are growing again, we’re back in the schools and serving as many youth as we possibly can.”

With this ramping up, the equipment has taken a back seat to higher priorities. Dayon said the funding can be used to improve the nearly 10-year-old technology.

“When you have something new, that attracts curiosity,” she said. “I love that idea that when you have something that has full capacity and is just as good as what you see from people who do have access to this technology. They have the power within them to create amazing things. That end product gives them this confidence that they can build, they can create, they can do anything.”

Moore is hoping to use his experience in sound technology to get makers space students involved with more mixed media projects such as production studio work.

The makers space currently houses 3D printers, iPad Pros, vinyl cutters, a DIY sound booth and more.

“It’s about empowering these students to one, not feel like they don’t have access to what they know they see in other schools, in predominantly white schools ... and they don’t feel excluded,” Moore said. “They also feel a sense of autonomy.”

Dayon said the maker space also allows students who are learning to make mistakes in a safe space, helping build resilience regardless of the field they go into beyond school.

“It not working doesn’t mean failure. It just means that you have to make tweaks and adjust and move along,” she said. “That’s a critical life skill that gets taught in this really silent way that kids don’t know that they’re learning.”

In the future, Y.O.U. is looking to ensure the maker space stands out, not just for its education work, but in its advocacy for young people in Evanston.

“I feel like we’re really pushing to open it more so we can expose more young people to tinkering, to being in S.T.E.M. and fun technology and fun creativity and experimentation,” Moore said.

Interested students can enroll with Evanston Y.O.U for free on their website.