UC Ground Floor Makerspace offers summer intensive for K-12 STEAM teachers
Educators get two weeks of hands-on training in state-of-the-art facility
The University of Cincinnati Ground Floor Makerspace and the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative (GCSC) are piloting a professional development opportunity for K-12 STEAM teachers in the greater Cincinnati region.
The Makerspace Intensive begins Monday, June 5, and runs weekdays through Friday, June 16, in the 1819 Innovation Hub.
The free program includes equipment trainings, discussions and individual and group work sessions. Participants were chosen through an application process. They will earn up to 40-60 professional development contact hours and a stipend for completing all program requirements. After the intensive ends, they will be given six weeks of free Makerspace access.
“Here in the UC Makerspace, we define ‘making’ as including design, challenge-based learning, crafts, tinkering, inventing and performing maintenance and repairs. These activities develop initiative, resiliency, problem-solving and collaborative work skills. These are all part of the 21st century skills that are in demand by employers,” said Ben Jones, Makerspace director. “We believe that the process of making can be transformative, helping individuals gain confidence in solving problems that matter.”
Sean Kelley, director of the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative, said the partnership with the Makerspace is a strategic extension of the work the collaborative does with teachers, students, families and community partners to engage young people in hands-on experiences that lead them to explore STEAM education and career pathways.
“As an original member of the MakerUSA Learning Network, GCSC is committed to accelerating social mobility and community-driven innovation by expanding these pathways for underserved students into maker careers and entrepreneurship,” Kelley said. “Beginning with the teaching professionals in the classroom with these students is the natural first step.”
Featured image at top: The Makerspace Intensive will give K-12 educators hands-on training in a 12,000-square-foot space featuring prototyping and fabrication tools. Photo provided.
Innovation Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
University of Cincinnati college is piloting a program to serve alumni of foster and kinship care
December 12, 2025
In 2025 the Ohio Reach Postsecondary designation was awarded to UC's College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Technology (CECH) as part of the program's third cohort. The program recognizes and supports higher education institutions that have worked to make their campuses welcoming and accessible for students with a history in foster or kinship care. CECH will run a pilot program called Anchor Point aimed at wide-scale implementation across the campus in Fall 2026.
National inventors group recognizes UC provost
December 11, 2025
The National Academy of Inventors on Thursday named the interim provost of the University of Cincinnati to its 2025 class of fellows.
Celebrating the newest Bearcats on Decision Day
December 11, 2025
The University of Cincinnati admits its newest Bearcats for Fall 2026. Interest in the university is at an all-time high with more than 35,000 applicants for admission. Decision Day was also a time to celebrate 10 new Marian Spencer Scholarship recipients.