Nearly 100 families from Ashe, Burke, Swain, Wilkes, and Yancey County participated in a recent GEAR UP Family Design Night.
This year in the Family Design Night series, students are exploring history, and during October’s Design Night, they addressed the history of printmaking going back to the first printing presses in China and then to the Gutenberg and printing of the first bible. Students worked with their families to create a specific print that they thought exemplified the theme North Carolina is Home. Students were free to create and utilize whichever type of printmaking process and materials they wanted from the kits provided. Students created reliefs in clay and foam, some students shaped aluminum foil or clay to create different designs, and others used stenciling with the provided paper.
Some of the feedback from student participants included:
“I had so much fun!”
“I can be more creative than I thought I could be.”
“Being together with our family and other families was my favorite part.”
GEAR UP Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instructional Design Doug Thompson says, “Family Design Night has been a project that has grown and evolved over the past year with the Academic Innovation Team. We are proud to engage families in STEM activities and contribute to the culture of makers and problem solvers throughout Western North Carolina. Our team looks forward to each event and we are always impressed with the turnout and creativity of our students.”
The next GEAR UP Family Design Night is scheduled for November 15th from 6:30-7:30 pm. Registration for the fall events has closed due to capacity; however, registration for the spring events will open shortly at the beginning of December.
October Family Design Night
