With such a wide array of clubs available at HHS, many clubs fly under the radar. The Makerspace, located in the Media Center, is one of these clubs.
“The Makerspace is a club where students of any age can come in to build and create stuff,” said Executive Officer Aanya Patel, a Junior. “Whatever they can think of, we help them create.”
She continued, “We really turn creativity into actual, tangible products in the Makerspace.”
The Makerspace is responsible for many iconic creations around the school, such as shirts for various clubs, hall passes and even Jefferson Diner merch. They also do projects for organizations around Hudson, which is part of how they generate revenue to fund the club.
When they get larger requests, the president and officers are usually the members who work on them. Group idea sessions are one of the key ways they make progress on larger-scale projects.
“We have a lot of teachers and adults who come in here that are like ‘Hey, I need this, I need that, can you guys do that?’ and usually it’s [more so] the officers that kind of get together and work on how we’re gonna pull it off,” said senior Alaina Zsaludko, an officer. “We work together, we bounce ideas off of each other and then we end up figuring it out.”
This collaborative problem solving is one of the things that draws many members to the club. Several members also cited the community within the Makerspace as one of the major reasons they love it so much. “I kind of just fell in love with the community that’s here,” Zsaludko shared. “All the people that are here are so much fun and we all kind of just hang out and have a good time while also learning stuff that you don’t normally learn in school–a lot of life lessons.”
McKinley Meeker, a junior and president of the Makerspace, explained why he joined. “I originally joined Makerspace because I loved making things and I loved 3D printing. I wanted to make all of my designs a reality, which is what you can do in Makerspace.” Meeker was part of the Makerspace at the middle school as well, which is why he is so well-versed in the operations of the Makerspace and what makes him a good president. He agreed that the people in the Makerspace are a large part of what makes it so special.
“There’s definitely a buzz in the air, people just bouncing off the walls in many different directions making many different things. Especially during meetings, where we have the highest number of members showing up,” said the club’s advisor Mr. Robitaille, who has been with the club since he started working at Hudson. “This year, particularly, is off to a really good start.”
Robitaille said that at meetings, he’s seen more people working with textiles and doing more crafty projects along with the engineering side of the club. This is a welcome evolution from the club’s initial focus of being more engineering-centric, as it allows for more creativity to be expressed when students are working on projects.
The club was started in 2015 by two students who approached then-principal Mr. Wilch with the idea of a space for students to work on engineering projects. Since then, the club has come a long way. They started with a laser engraver, and have expanded their collection of machines to include 3D printers, resin printers and more.
The Makerspace is always looking for new ways to get creative and expand their already impressive amassment of machinery and tools, which they get by applying for grants. Their most recent acquisition is a sublimation printer (a digital printing device that transfers images onto a material using heat and pressure).
They also sell their creations at the Hudson Farmers Market and several other markets, especially around the holidays. Additionally, they offer custom Hudson merchandise, which is sold online through PaySchools Central. This is another way the Makerspace finds funding for new projects and machines.
At its core, the Makerspace is about balancing independent work with collaborative effort in the process of creation. Students who participate in the Makerspace are encouraged to think outside the box when they are creating things, which all of them do with enthusiasm.
The space is open during free periods like study halls, Explorer Period and Wednesday late starts. Questions can be directed to Mr. Robitaille or the club officers.
