Shannon High School Library Accessing Creativity

Mary Huston, librarian at Shannon High School, is providing students with creative experiences in Shannon's new Access Point Makerspace. Students attending Shannon High School are learning how to collaborate, share, problem solve, and apply critical thinking skills as they make an object. While visiting with Mary Huston's students, it is clearly evident that students are deeply engaged. Ms. Huston provides students the opportunity to participate in makerspace activities throughout the day and is beginning to invite teachers into the new makerspace environment.

Ms. Huston is dedicating time towards designing activities to distribute using S'More, an online newsflier application, and Zaption, an interactive video tool. Zaption allows Ms. Huston to create video content to include informational text in a sequential format. Ms. Huston is beginning to post S'More activities on her website, which allows students the opportunity to go back to revisit materials.


The makerspace environment is new to not only students but educators at Shannon High School. Ms. Huston is just beginning to introduce concepts to teachers but has worked with one social studies teacher to connect an activity that considers the topic of survival. Students made a bracelet as part of their survival unit in Access Point's Makerspace. Ms. Huston strongly believes the sense of pride students are developing through the act of making an object greatly increases students' self-esteem.