Bourn Idea Lab Director/Makerspace Educator

Director of Bourn Idea Lab/Makerspace Educator

As Castilleja’s primary makerspace, design studio, and robotics lab, the Bourn Idea Lab plays a key role in realizing Castilleja’s vision for the 21st century. Based on the belief that inquiry is at the core of student learning,  our makerspace educators help students gain creative competence and hands-on practice in turning abstract concepts into physical reality and prototypes.

If: You are an educator and engineering or technology enthusiast who wants to empower girls to bring their many incredible ideas to life;

You have experience in design thinking, engineering, or making;

You are interested in working with young people in a rich, cross-disciplinary, project­-based learning environment; we want to hear from you.

 This is a full-time position with great potential for growth and leadership development.

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Your responsibilities will include

Teaching, Curriculum Development and Evaluation

• Work with teachers across curriculum areas and grade levels to integrate hands-on learning opportunities into core classes
• Coordinate making, digital fabrication, and design curriculum development and education in both the middle and upper school, including identifying new opportunities
• Design and implement co-curricular programming
• Educate students and faculty in the use of design thinking in problem strategizing
• Mentor Upper School  student interns to plan and teach making activities to Middle Schoolers
• Collaborate with Castilleja’s Institutional Researcher to create and design tools and best practices for assessment of hands-on learning
• Coordinate interdisciplinary experiences
• Evaluate student participation and engagement

Professional Development and Outreach

• Professional Development includes designing and running workshops for teachers, overseeing the Bourn Fellows program, a year-long fellowship for Castilleja teachers, researching external opportunities related to making, digital fabrication, design thinking, and/or STEM education, and publicizing them to faculty.
• Outreach includes representing Castilleja at relevant conferences and events, e.g. Maker Faire, FabLearn, contributing to the Makerspace blogosphere, and promoting  the lab and its use through the school’s various communication channels, including website and social media.

Administration and Lab management

• Oversee the daily functioning of the Bourn Idea Lab and Tinkering Nook, including workflows, scheduling, inventory, purchasing, maintenance and repairs
• Manage the Robotics Advisor and ensure a consistent lab presence
• Manage Bourn Lab Budget

You would enjoy this role if you have

• An initiator’s mindset: you can move ideas from vision to implementation and bring others along with you to co-create programming, as well as literally anything one might design/build/make
• Passion for 6-12 design and maker education, helping students become confident designers, makers, and engineers
• Interest in working with young people to guide them in taking their ideas from initial prototypes to completion, while leaving the locus of control in students’ hands
• Willingness to learn new technologies quickly and design curriculum accordingly in order to respond to emergent student interests
• Desire to get involved in the many aspects of our Bourn Lab program, teaching electives, supporting student projects, mentoring MS Robotics, etc.
• Desire to learn by doing and to learn with/from others, including students and adults
• Flexibility, creativity, and openness to feedback in working in a collaborative team environment where new ideas, mistakes, and iteration are embraced

We are looking for someone with some subset of the following:

• Experience working with young people, teaching or coaching in a formal classroom setting or informal co-curricular settings
• Demonstrated experience with design thinking as a set of techniques and tools to help with problem strategizing
• Familiarity with some special topics in design, computer science, or engineering
• Familiarity and experience with some of the design and fabrication processes available in the Bourn Idea Lab, such as laser cutting, 3D printing, textiles, woodworking, CAD, robotics, electronics, physical computing (such as Arduinos), etc.
• Deep commitment to ongoing professional development and ability to model lifelong learning for, and sometimes in front of, students
• Steadfast commitment to shop safety, respectful behavior, and inclusive attitudes
• Ability to explain things in varied ways to reach both less-experienced and more-experienced students
• Strong communication skills and ability to speak to a wide variety of audiences, from students to parents to fellow educators
• Bachelor’s degree, or higher, in engineering, design, or a related field and/or relevant industry experience