By Lindsay Peyton

Walking into Sandy Gady’s classroom at Pacific Middle School in Des Moines is a journey into another world—one filled with tools, electronics and a massive creative spark.

During the school year, Gady leads students through design and engineering courses. For the past two weeks, she has offered a summer camp, giving 4th through 8th graders. providing a taste of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

“I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to try design and engineering without the pressure of a grade,” she said.

This was her first time to offer the camp, which she opened to any students interested, whether they attended Pacific or not.

The first week was such a success that a number of campers elected to return for the second session, held from Monday, Aug. 13 through Friday, Aug. 16.

Each project came with an extra challenge. For example, students were charged with designing a toolbox to hold certain tools—but the material was recycled wood.

“It’s tougher with scraps,” Gady said.

She also gave students hacksaws to cut the wood on the first day. The second day, she replaced the tools with handsaws. The goal was to help them understand the importance of using the right tool for the job.

“Once I set them loose, they were all so excited,” Gady said.

The next project was making a duck-shaped memo holder using a scroll saw and recycled wood. They moved on to solving a wooden puzzle and building rubber band-powered cars.
“They had to do a lot of problem-solving,” Gady said. “They learned that sometimes you have to walk and come back to the project.”

Students returning from the first session will become mentors to the new campers. They will have a whole new list of projects to complete—from building a bank with a scroll saw to etching glass mugs. Creating their own ukuleles from a kit is also on the line-up.

Gady said the projects are intended to teach students to follow directions, in addition to acquiring skills for working with tools. They also learn to collaborate, communicate, problem-solve and manage their time.

“For a lot of the kids, this is the first time they ever got to use tools,” Gady said. “It’s the first time they ever got to build something. And they really have to think through the process, to understand why it works.”

The energy of the students was palpable. “You could feel their electricity,” Gady said. “They were here for four hours and didn’t stop working.”

The campers came in each morning ready to go straight to work. “The kids went home every day super excited, telling any and all who would listen, about what they accomplished,” Gady said. “Parents came in every day sharing how they had never seen their child so happy.”

Bree Davidson Caswell volunteered to help with the camp. She was not surprised by how the students reacted. Her daughter Kyan took Gady’s middle school class for two years and is now heading to high school with a design and engineering skill set.

Davidson Caswell’s son Rilo, who is preparing to enter third grade, was one of the youngest participants in this summer’s camp.

“Sandy just absolutely trusts that the kids will accomplish whatever tasks she gives them,” Davidson Caswell said. “She expects greatness of the kids, and they just rise to it.”

Davidson Caswell said at times Gady would watch students start a project on the wrong track.

“She didn’t correct them, because she knew they would learn more figuring it out themselves,” Davidson Caswell said. “It’s the coolest thing watching their brains solve problems.”

Gady explained that her mission in the maker camp--and in her classroom in general--is to build confidence in her students.

She accomplishes that by pushing them forward and constantly raising the bar.

Davidson Caswell has seen the method work firsthand.

“For parents who want to see their kids solve problems and grow into themselves, this program with Sandy is so helpful,” Davidson Caswell said. “And she gets them plugged into the idea that making things is really cool.”