Since coming back from Army service in Iraq, Jeffrey Hawkins has been leading after-school programs for underprivileged children in San Francisco to help them learn basic skills through hands-on experience. He has found his connections with Teaching With Small Boats and Building to Teach an invaluable resource to expand his popular programs.
Though he hasn't yet used materials from the TWSBA, he raves about all he learned at the Port Townsend, WA convention this past spring, where he interacted with others who also believe that hands-on education deserves a strong endorsement in any curriculum.
"It was good meeting folks from around the country," he says of the April meeting. "We went to a local boat builder and saw how she worked. There were great workshops at the conference. It's already paying dividends."
Hawkins began his program, called
YMAKERS, two years ago through the YMCA in an area of
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Jeff teaching younger makers to use big tools, safely.
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San Francisco known as The Presidio. Originally a summer camp for middle school students, the hands-on teaching sessions were expanded to serve students after school in three elementary schools.
"We have a very diverse view of how we approach learning," he says. "Once I found a vacuum cleaner and brought it to the class and we took it apart. Most of these kids don't have an opportunity to make things with their hands. When you get to build, you use math for something. In class, it's just on paper."
The biggest project was building two, eight-foot scows that they are just finishing and hoping to launch in November. "When parents see what we have done, they are stunned," he says. "They can't believe what we have put together."
Born and raised in San Francisco, Hawkins was going to pursue a degree in education, but decided that schools placed too much emphasis on test preparation and not enough on experience-based learning. So he decided to pursue after-school learning through the YMCA. In addition to his English degree, he has also taken classes in workplace safety.
His discussions work in everything from how the Wright Brothers built their airplanes to why there are knots in pieces of redwood. In addition, he employs his studies on workplace safety help students learn how to use tools and to maintain a safe work area
"You know what something is when you are able to go and touch it," he says. "We learn how to use a saw and keep your hands safe."
Hawkins says his students love technology like iPads and cellphones, but they can't relate to where it comes from. "We build a lot of our projects using cheap redwood fencing," he says.
"Then we'll go to Golden Gate Park and put our hands on redwood trees. I talk about how old and big some of the trees can get, and the kids build a stronger connection to their materials and to the projects they make out it. It's a relationship they'll never have with a computer or cellphone."
In the future, he wants to expand the program to additional schools and reach out to middle school students, perhaps getting them involved in apprenticeship programs. He would also like to involve more service veterans.
"It's growing like wildfire," he says. "It's amazing what we can do."