“女孩和电动工具”:学生们卷起袖子参加六年级的年度建筑项目

Someone’s drill starts to click.

“Stop, stop!科学教师、项目联合创始人萨拉·巴纳姆(Sarah Barnum)冲了过来，惊叫道. “当你听到那种声音时，就意味着出了问题. Use gravity to help you here.” Together, everyone reviews safety techniques. 

数学老师、另一位项目发起人尼克·杰罗德(Nick Jerrold)正在附近巡视. 

“You don’t want that sticking out. 把它拿出来，钻一个新的先导孔，然后把那个东西放进去，”他对一个团队说. “Don’t fight about the drill! Be careful! 把压力压在后面，就这样吧，”他告诉另一个人. “Looks nice! Don’t be afraid to sand the heck out of it!”

Ms. Barnum and Mr. Jerrold于2019年启动了该建筑项目，作为跨学科的STEAM活动. Their goal was to teach kids about applied science, math, and group work, about “being precise and also being good enough,” Ms. Barnum adds. “It’s okay if it’s not perfect.” 

And, of course, this is also about confidence. “Girls and power tools!” exclaims Ms. Barnum. “I was that kid. I did woodshop. 我和妹妹在没有得到妈妈允许的情况下，在后院里建了热门网赌软件大全自己的树屋.” She was eight years old at the time, she adds. “It’s the pride and ownership. 在一天结束的时候(他们会说)，这是我用自己的双手创造出来的.”

“It’s the engagement,” adds Mr. Jerrold. “We both love it. I call it the highlight of my year.”

Ms. Barnum and Mr. 杰罗德花了2019年夏天的大部分时间准备他们的第一次建造:他们买了木材, cut it themselves, built a prototype, and wrote instructions from scratch, thanks to a summer grant from Castilleja. “热门网赌软件大全真的很高兴得到这笔赠款，因为热门网赌软件大全在夏天得到了一点钱来工作,” says Ms. Barnum. “老师们用暑期补助金做了很多很酷的事情，如果没有补助金，这个项目就不会发生。”.”  

这个项目非常成功，自2020年以来，他们每年都在继续这个项目, due to COVID-related distance learning).   

Some students have never built before. “Oh my God, I can’t do this,” they say to Ms. Barnum. “Yes, you can!” she assures them. 那些知道如何使用工具的学生可以帮助别人. 

去年，六年级的学生们在美术老师的指导下画了他们完成的小隔间和免费小图书馆, Angélica Ortiz Anguiano ’11, before distributing them around campus. 他们用一个字母来拼出“想象”这个词来装饰其中的七个图书馆,” the school theme, 并定制每个图书馆的设计，以配合其教室. 例如，伯恩实验室的小自由图书馆就被涂上了五颜六色的齿轮和彩虹. Bridget Rigby, head of the Bourn Lab, 戏称它为“创客供应室”，现在用它来交换创客工具. The year before that, students painted the tables they built with a letter “C,” to spell out the school’s core values, the 5Cs.  

The completed pieces become a living homage to Castilleja; they’re used to store books, supplies, fitness items, and much more. 一些老师在小柜子上面放上枕头，把它们变成舒适的长椅.

今年，又有几名教师在现场提供帮助，其中就包括布伦南. Rigby; Jen O’Sullivan, fitness and wellness teacher; Christina Courtney ’02, science, Bourn Lab, and computer science and engineering teacher; Carolyn Steele, 6th grade computer science, making and design teacher; and Nico Gallo, Bourn Lab teacher. 

“我真的很喜欢钻东西和锤东西，”六年级学生Aya M. In addition to woodshop techniques and safety, Aya says she is learning about leadership and team dynamics. 

“把别人排除在外会让人感觉不好，没有真正被包容，”阿雅说. “Especially for projects like this, 可能有人真的很擅长这种事, 但他们也可能会忘乎所以，不把其他人包括在内——他们不会学习.”

Her classmate, Delaney W.她已经是一名建筑专家，曾和父亲一起建造过园艺箱和鸟屋. 德莱尼最兴奋的是学习如何排除故障并做出调整. 她说:“无论何时热门网赌软件大全做错了什么，热门网赌软件大全都需要想办法修复它。. 

“I love how there’s so much teamwork involved. You really couldn’t do it by yourself,” says Misha S., 另一个六年级的学生，看着她的父母和祖父组装家具长大. 

“It can’t just be one and done. 你必须改变一些东西，改变一些你打算设计它的方式,” Misha says. 她在等待木胶干燥以防止零件移位时学会了这一点. 她迫不及待地想把她的计划告诉祖父. “I think I’m gonna tell him what I built, and how I built it, and what it felt like,” Misha says, looking over her completed cubby. “I feel really proud of it. It’s like, ‘Wow, I did that!’”