Casey L. Walker

My entry to STEM Education began when I helped my friend Natasha with her small business, creating tech-craft kits to help inspire people who love crafting to learn about electronics. My work with TechnoChic brought me to several Maker Faires and into the fold of the Maker Movement. 

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In 2016, my employer tapped me to help establish a makerspace, STEM curriculum, and extra-curricular STEAM offerings at my school. The results of my journey have been more fruitful than I ever imagined.

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On my journey through STEM so far, I have…

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• Learned new and classic forms of technology well enough to teach them (highlights below)

• Initiated the STEM Technician program, through which high school student volunteers receive specialized training in order to maintain our school’s makerspace, as well as plan and host workshops for the general student body

• Launched the Saint Thomas Aquinas H.S. School Maker Faire

  • In our first year over 700 students from our school and over 100 students from local grammar schools attended

  • In our second year, over 20% of the STAHS student body participated as makers/exhibitors and volunteers

• Created curricula for a STEM Summer Enrichment program for middle schoolers, including an engaging, socially-distanced session during the pandemic

• Attended Core Training hosted by Project Lead the Way in order to teach the course Introduction to Engineering Design

• Integrated use of the school’s makerspace and its resources into all of my visual arts courses, in addition to teaching two courses in the makerspace

• Taught professional development workshops on how to integrate concepts of Maker-Centered Education across curricular disciplines

Skills & Proficiencies

• The Design Process & Design Thinking

• 3D Printing & 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD)

• Laser cutter & engraver

• Woodworking, including hand tools (planes, chisels) and power tools

• Metalworking (hand tools, basics of the lathe, beginner blacksmithing)

• Sewing & textiles arts

• Basic electronics, robotics, & coding

• Safety Training & Coordination

• Teambuilding & Student Empowerment

 

Achievements​:

• Winner of the 2020 JCRMRG Community Health Hackathon  

  • Check out news coverage from DesignNews.com & NJIT

• My tutorial for how to blacksmith a No-Touch Door Pull/Bottle Opener was featured as an editor's pick for metalworking on Instructables.com

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