We do a lot of cool stuff at Splatspace, but we’re not remotely the only group
in the maker movement in the Triangle. With the recent closing of Techshop, it
seems really important to highlight the work being done by other groups in the
local maker community.

One such group is the Central Park School for Children Makers, based out of
their namesake school in Durham. It’s composed of about 20 kids from grades 2
through 5, parent and teacher volunteers, and high school volunteers. They’ve also sought out help from other local groups, including some members of Splatspace. The kids have formed
teams, each responsible for vital roles like sourcing parts, accounting, and
other operations.

The group is building a 3D printer, sourcing parts from all over based on a
reference machine. It was started by the father-son duo Alex and Jacob
Franke, who were already enthusiasts about maker culture and wanted to
spread their interest. Here’s the video they used to initially pitch their
project and get the club going:

Their goal isn’t just to instill an interest in making among the students, but
to “pay it forward” and help other schools out. To that end they’ve been
putting together tutorials on things they’ve figured out like bare-wire end
stops and hobbed bolts; we’ll be featuring those here in the coming weeks. They’re also trying to get all of their content out in the public for others. Right now you can see what they’ve got online.

Like any good maker group, they’re already involved in the larger maker scene:
Alex and Jacob Franke recently attended the Midwest Rep Rap Festival and
produced this really cool documentary of their experience, where they talked
to makers like Josef Prusa:

Prusa also made a message directly for the group:

The CPSfCM is an amazing group, and we look forwards to seeing where they go,
and how they help build the maker culture in the Triangle.