January holiday session

Yesterday we held the Lab's two-hour January holiday session. More people came along than planned, so the Maidstone office was a picture of flurry at 4pm as the guys struggled to find desk spaces for all the 18 excited (and often initially apprehensive) young people who came along.

How did it go? By all indications really well, thanks to the sterling efforts of Dale, Justin, Sean, Craig and Tung in settling participants and getting them stuck into something of interest. As usual, Minecraft featured strongly. One 8 year-old created a website on the fly and other returning participants had specific questions answered about particular software. At the end there were lots of big grins and requests to return.

For me observing proceedings, what was really striking was how quickly everything settled down and how at home these young people seemed to be once they got going on their activities on their laptops and their parents went to the tea room. These boys (there was only one girl present) really seemed to be in their element, like they'd been coming to the Lab for months, not going to a new location for the first time with a group of others they'd never met before. There was a surprising lot of interaction, with kids asking each other about their work.

For me, it was actually quite extraordinary and a clear confirmation that this approach works, at least in the current context - we have yet to see how this translates to other settings with different people and mentors. OK, I co-started The Lab and have been been running it since April so I'm not exactly neutral about its benefits, but this was a clearer indication than expected that we're onto something powerful here.

The main real issue at present is our ability to work with more of these excellent and fun young people, given the interest in The Lab by those who have been given a taste of it, our preference to work with people over the long term, and the ever-growing waiting list. We have to make sure we and our mentors don't burn out. The only real way to do this is to see the model adopted by other people in other places. This is our real challenge now for the next stage of the Lab's development.

For anyone living in or near Ballarat (or know someone who is)...

Here's a message from someone running a great project you might like to explore:

Dear Stefan,

After reading your article in the AMAZE newsletter esprectrum 64 I thought I would contact you about another program that is running in the Ballarat Area. Flashdrive Beyond the Classroom Inc is a Not For Profit Business working with disengaged youth and people with disabilities. www.flashdrive.org.au.

From the website:

Students learn to:

• assemble a computer from recycled parts
• install and configure software
• use Windows and common software applications
• work in an environmentally-friendly way – our computers are donated by local organisations and refurbished or recycled, reducing e-waste.

Afterwards, students may purchase the computer they build at low cost.