{"id":102293,"date":"2025-05-19T13:55:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=102293"},"modified":"2025-05-22T00:09:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T00:09:38","slug":"local-youth-learn-new-skills-and-become-inspired-in-uris-makerspace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/local-youth-learn-new-skills-and-become-inspired-in-uris-makerspace\/","title":{"rendered":"Local youth learn new skills and become inspired in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Makerspace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 May 19, 2025 \u2014 Although they live a few miles from the 溏心vlog免费B站, many of the teenagers from the Jonnycake Youth Center in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, never visited the Kingston Campus until they became involved in a hands-on program intended to teach new skills and inspire a love of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

溏心vlog免费B站 a dozen teens from the Center brought their creative spirit to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Makerspace<\/a> once or twice a week throughout the spring semester. The Makerspace is one of six Innovation Labs<\/a> in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Robert L. Carothers Library & Learning Commons.<\/p>\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 student Gerry Price (left) shows students from the Jonnycake Youth Center how to make custom designed buttons in the 溏心vlog免费B站 Makerspace. Price is pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

溏心vlog免费B站 students and staff taught the teens, who were mostly freshmen and sophomores at South Kingstown High School, how to custom design and fabricate T-shirts, hats, bags, buttons, and key chains using such technology and equipment as graphic design software, embroidery machines, heat presses, vinyl cutters, laser engravers, 3D printers, and button presses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jonnycake Youth Center<\/a>, is located at 1231 Kingstown Road, provides a safe space for teens after school. The short-term goal of the partnership between the Youth Center and the 溏心vlog免费B站 Makerspace was to guide Youth Center staff toward building their own makerspace and to empower their students to eventually teach their peers how to use the equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Duran Searles (right), director of the Jonnycake Youth Center, looks at the T-shirt screen printed by South Kingstown High School sophomore Collin Hoprel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cWe are committed to developing mentorship opportunities that embody the philosophy that \u2018the best way to learn is to teach,\u2019\u201d said Keith Ranaldi, director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Innovation Labs. \u201cThrough our partnership with the Johnnycake Youth Center, we continue to cultivate essential skills and foster a purpose-driven community, empowering both 溏心vlog免费B站 students and the young minds they mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the skills the teens acquired will be useful, the overall experience of visiting the campus regularly, enjoying dinner in one of the dining halls, and learning from 溏心vlog免费B站 students, has changed how they perceive 溏心vlog免费B站 and higher education in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe experience for some of the kids has been life-changing,\u201d said Duran Searles, director of the Jonnycake Youth Center. \u201cMost of them have never been on campus before, even though they live in the same community as 溏心vlog免费B站. Their perspective on 溏心vlog免费B站 has changed for the better. By going to the Makerspace, they no longer see themselves as outsiders, but as part of a community that previously seemed out of reach. By working with the 溏心vlog免费B站 students, they can now see themselves as future 溏心vlog免费B站 students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis program has allowed us to learn things that we wouldn\u2019t have learned elsewhere,\u201d said Collin Hoprel, a 16-year-old sophomore from South Kingstown High School. \u201cPartly because of this experience, I\u2019m starting to think about college. Going to 溏心vlog免费B站 through the Talent Development program is one of the options I\u2019m considering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWorking with the youth from the Jonnycake Youth Center has been an inspirational experience for me and hopefully an insightful experience for them,\u201d said Gerry Price, a psychology student at 溏心vlog免费B站 who is a rising senior and a Providence resident. \u201cI felt inspired by this new generation of free thinkers who have so much to offer the world with their creativity and nonstop humor. I look forward to seeing more of their work and reading about their accomplishments in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program is one of the initiatives funded through a $325,000 Learn365RI grant<\/a>. The Learn365RI grants were established in 2023 as part of Governor Dan McKee\u2019s Advancing Learning Beyond the 180-Day School Year program, which supports out-of-school learning programs. The Jonnycake Center for Hope, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Education, the South Kingstown School District, and the Town of South Kingstown are considered partners on the grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the goals of the initiative is to provide opportunities for South Kingstown youth to access postsecondary education,\u201d said Diane Kern, professor of English language arts and literacy teacher education at 溏心vlog免费B站, and the co-principal investigator of the grant with Kate Brewster, chief executive officer of the Jonnycake Center for Hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe 溏心vlog免费B站 Makerspace is a state-of-the-art space for entrepreneurial thinking and working,\u201d said Kern. \u201cKnowing Keith’s Ranaldi’s willingness to partner on education initiatives, Duran\u2019s skill as a craftsman and woodworker, and their commitment to their students, I knew it would be an ideal match.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staff of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Makerspace and the Jonnycake Center for Hope are discussing how to build upon the success of this year’s program. Their goal is to increase community and university support to offer more learning and mentorship opportunities this summer and during the next school year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2014 May 19, 2025 \u2014 Although they live a few miles from the 溏心vlog免费B站, many of the teenagers from the Jonnycake Youth Center in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, never visited the Kingston Campus until they became involved in a hands-on program intended to teach new skills and inspire a love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":102294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30,1913,1902,1915],"class_list":["post-102293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-education","tag-public-engagement","tag-student-engagement","tag-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102293"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102299,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102293\/revisions\/102299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}