Back to School Edition

Fall 2026 Update

As another school year begins, Matt's Maker Spaces are once again buzzing with creativity! Across our growing network of schools and community organizations, people are designing, building, inventing, and collaborating in spaces created to inspire curiosity and hands-on learning.

Teachers are launching exciting new projects, introducing innovative technologies, and helping students develop the creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills that will serve them for years to come. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing these spaces come alive with imagination and joyful learning.

Behind the scenes, our team has been hard at work partnering with administrators, educators, and designers to create learning environments tailored to the unique needs of each community we serve. Every Matt's Maker Space is thoughtfully designed to reflect the students, programs, and mission of its organization.

We are thrilled to announce that six new Matt's Maker Spaces are joining our family this year! Please join us in welcoming these newest members of the Matt's Maker Space family, bringing our total to more than 60 inspiring spaces:

Autism Caring Center #2 – opened in June - Our second location with this amazing organization! Located in Cranberry - check out the photos below.
Urban Impact - a preschool located in the Northside of Pittsburgh, this space will bring learning opportunities to the littlest ones!
Hempfield School District - implementing Brick clubs everywhere!
Rowan University – Wellness Center - a special story, inspired by an increase in the number of engineering students taking their lives, this center focuses on wellness and healing. This is a special one for us - our first outside of Pennsylvania! The first of two on this campus and our first directed at university students - photos from our fall opening will be in the next newsletter!
Clairton City School District - a challenging installation into a former metal and wood shop, we are excited to provide much needed learning opportunities for this incredible school district!
Cancer Bridges – Matt's Maker Space #2 - a second space, in a place near and dear to my heart. I have served this organization for over 15 years on the board and it is one of the best out there. This space will cater to their tween population.

As always, thank you to our incredible partners, donors, educators, volunteers, and supporters who make this work possible. Because of your generosity, thousands of students and families continue to discover the joy of creating, exploring, and learning together.

As we celebrate all that's ahead, we're also preparing for a very special milestone. 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of Matt's Maker Space! What began as our family's dream to honor Matt's legacy has grown into a movement that has transformed learning experiences for thousands of children, teens, and families. Save the date - November 4 - for this great celebration. Invitations will be out in September, encouraging you to join us for a very special 10th Birthday Celebration at Museum Lab. We can't wait to celebrate this milestone with all of you who have been part of our story.

Stay tuned throughout the fall as we share photos, grand opening celebrations and stories from each of our newest spaces. We can't wait to introduce you to the remarkable people and communities who make the Matt's Maker Space family so special!

Noelle

EQT and Matt's Maker Space

The EQT Foundation is a great partner to Matt's Maker Space. We have worked on several spaces together and this year, they funded our space at Clairton. We are grateful to Ellen Rossi for her support. They have generously offered their support of our upcoming birthday celebration at Museum Lab.

If you haven't had a chance to view the video they created about our partnership, you can see it here.

We are so grateful to EQT Foundation and Ellen Rossi for their commitment to education and collaborative learning.

Teacher Summer Camp

We partnered with the Leonard Gelfand Center at Carnegie Mellon University this summer to present our first annual CMU Teacher Summer Camp! Teachers were able to attend sessions led by University professors as well as Matt's Maker Space teachers. The participants were thrilled with their experience, one even shared that "It was the best teacher education I have been to in my fourteen years of teaching, including a Stanford teacher camp and national conferences."

Director, Miriam Wertheimer and Coordinator, Lindsay Forman worked diligently to provide the best learning experiences for the 40 teachers who participated.

Our Matt's Maker Space Board members were an integral part of the event, leading several outstanding sessions throughout the conference. A special thank you to Matt Mikesell, Bridget Belardi, Dr. Virginia Chambers, Dr. Brett Bielewicz, Dr. Kamryn York, and Dr. Shelly Bucci for inspiring attendees with their knowledge, experience, and commitment to hands-on learning.

On the last day of the week, everyone was invited to attend a day at one of our partner organizations, The Education Partnership, where they were exposed to their teacher shopping facility and the wonderful programs they offer.

It was an incredible week of learning, collaboration, networking, and celebrating the remarkable educators who dedicate part of their summer to growing professionally so they can inspire their students throughout the year.

Read more about the week of camp in this wonderful article written by Stacey Federoff of CMU.

Matt's Maker Space

Professional Development Outreach Program

This upcoming school year, Matt's Maker Space will be continuing to support professional development opportunities for educators in Western Pennsylvania. We are looking forward to offering several Learning Through Play workshops centered around "Making" with Legos. Already on the books, we will be running two workshops at the AIU3 for their TransformEd series. Save the Dates: November 19th and February 4th. Stay tuned for more MMS sponsored PD opportunities in 2026-27.

Our Professional Development Outreach Program is funded by a grant from Grable, and coordinated by our Board member, Emily Sanders, Asst. Superintendent of the Hempfield School District.

We also provide FREE professional customized development to all of Matt's Maker Space educators and others who are interested in STEAM, design thinking and maker learning. The goal is to help establish foundational skills to new makers as well as offering refresh training opportunities to all adults who utilize maker spaces. We have committed trainers who have vast knowledge in all things maker learning.

We also provide access to free online training for those who would like to start a Brick Club. For more information on this, please contact Emily at sanderse@hasdpa.net.

Welcome! Autism Caring Center Cranberry Location

On June 25, 2026, we proudly celebrated the opening of our second Matt's Maker Space at Autism Caring Center, this time at their Cranberry location.

The Open House brought together board members from both organizations, community leaders, families, and young people from the Cranberry area who are grateful to have this exceptional resource in their community.

We are honored to continue our partnership with Autism Caring Center as we expand opportunities for creativity, exploration, and hands-on learning for autistic and neurodivergent individuals. This second location reflects our shared commitment to creating welcoming spaces where every learner can discover, build, imagine, and thrive.

We look forward to seeing the creativity, confidence, and connections that will grow in this new Matt's Maker Space for years to come.

Welcome! Urban Impact

We are excited to welcome Urban Impact at St. Matthew's Church to the Matt's Maker Space family! Located on Pittsburgh's North Side, this new maker space has been thoughtfully designed to inspire creativity, curiosity, and hands-on learning for the young children and families served by Urban Impact's preschool program. Once again, our design partner, Anne Fullenkamp from the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh has done her magic!

Together with the dedicated staff at Urban Impact, we have created a vibrant space where children can imagine, build, create, explore, and develop the confidence and problem-solving skills that will serve them throughout their lives. We are honored to partner with an organization that is making such a meaningful difference in its community and look forward to seeing the joy, discovery, and lifelong learning that will grow from this special place.

Welcome to the Matt's Maker Space family, Urban Impact—we can't wait to see all that your young makers will accomplish!

Planned Openings this Fall

Rowan University #61

On October 21, we will open our first Matt's Maker Space outside of Pennsylvania and our first space dedicated to college students. It will be in the Rowan University-The Center for Well-Being . The Center for Well-Being is a comprehensive, inclusive, and welcoming campus resource center that supports and promotes the holistic development of all students, staff, and faculty, incorporating the six dimensions of Rowan Thrive, focused on physical, social, purpose, community, emotional, and financial well-being.

This center grew out of desire for the University to provide a way for students especially to be able to relax, "blow off steam", and have an opportunity to do something away from their rigorous coursework. We are honored to be a part of this amazing resource for the students. It is the first of its kind for us but we believe it won't be the last. Stay tuned for our grand opening update!

Clairton City School District #60

We are thrilled to welcome Clairton City School District to the Matt's Maker Space family! This exciting new space represents more than a renovation—it is an investment in the creativity, curiosity, and future of Clairton students. By transforming a former industrial arts classroom into a vibrant, hands-on learning environment, we are creating a place where students can imagine, design, build, collaborate, and solve real-world problems.

This project reflects our belief that every student deserves access to innovative learning experiences, regardless of their zip code. We are honored to partner with the dedicated educators and leaders at Clairton City School District to create a space that will inspire generations of learners and become a hub for creativity, innovation, and discovery throughout the community. EQT Foundation has chosen to partner with us on this amazing project. Watch for our opening later this year!

What's New in Six Bricks and Brick-By-Brick Club Training?

This summer we were able to sponsor two Six Bricks Level I trainings in the Pittsburgh area. The first one was held at the AIU3 on June 19th and the second one was held at Hempfield Area SD on July 21st. Our trainers, Emily Sanders and Matt Mikesell trained nearly 50 educators who earned their Level I certification from Care for Education and CMU. Hempfield Area will be one of the first school districts in Pennsylvania to implement the programming at every elementary school in 2026-27. We are excited to continue expanding the Six Bricks methodology across our region. Please reach out to Emily Sanders at emilycaryn@gmail.com for more information.

Matt's Maker Space was proud to sponsor the implementation of two Brick Clubs in the Hempfield Area School District last school year. West Hempfield Elementary and Maxwell Elementary schools both have trained staff members and ran successful Brick Clubs during the Spring of 2026. Supporting students' social emotional wellbeing, teamwork, problem-solving and creativity, these programs have proven to be a game changer, especially for neurodivergent learners.

In May HASD opened their doors during Remake Learning Days to all parents and neighboring communities to experience a Brick Club simulation. Because of the success of this pilot program, Hempfield Area is looking to expand Brick Clubs across all five elementary schools.

Are you interested in observing a Brick Club in action? Contact Emily Sanders at emilycaryn@gmail.com to learn more about this program.

Emily

Welcome New Board Members!

Dr. Shelly M. Bucci

Dr. Bucci received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in reading/literacy. She has been working in various positions in the New Castle Area School District for over 30 years. She is currently a second grade teacher in the district. She ascribes to the philosophy "Do what you LOVE what you do", and wanted to continue teaching students, as well as working with teachers on honing and improving the art of teaching. She is one of our Matt's Maker Space trainers and participated in our summer camp program this year for teachers. Welcome Shelly!

Lindsay Forman

Lindsay is a lifelong Pittsburgher and educator with a passion for STEAM, making, and playful learning. A natural connector, she loves bringing people, resources, and programs together to inspire learning, play, and creative thinking. We are so excited to have Lindsay join our board. She was instrumental in the planning and execution of our summer teacher camp at CMU. Welcome Lindsay!