Family Maker Camp has had some extraordinary hosts in this first month. Meet these performers, educators, and creators and hear their stories. Join the conversation and find out from the experts how best to make learning fun, how to make something from nothing, and how to let the kids lead as you #maketogether. Join via Zoom for the chance to be a part of the live discussion too or watch and comment LIVE on the Family Maker Camp FB page.

Meet our Panel of Hosts

Mario the Maker Magician Mario “the Maker Magician” Marchese is a New York based, touring family performer known for his DIY robotic creations, upcycled props, and new school slapstick character. It’s magic through the lens of the Maker Movement! As seen on Sesame Street, Sprout, and live on tour with David Blaine, who called him “the best kids magician in the world!! Mario’s show is an upbeat, hilarious, and very interactive experience that leaves children and families inspired to nurture their own creative paths.   Katie Rosa Marchese Katie is the co-adventurer, business partner, and wife of Mario “the Maker Magician” Marchese. Under normal circumstances, they travel the country and world with Mario’s maker magic theater show, road schooling their two children along the way. Katie’s focus is on marketing, branding, pitching and documenting their journey. https://www.mariothemagician.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/mariothemagician       Karl J. P. Smith Doctor Sparks is Karl J. P. Smith, a Biophysics PhD who tours the east coast with a STEAM Storytelling show. Karl’s storytelling has been profiled in USAToday, Scientific American, and elsewhere. He was named Storyteller-in-Residence at MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation from November 2018-March 2019, and was named Storyteller-in-Residence of the Carnegie Science Center in 2017. https://www.doctorsparksshow.com/ https://www.facebook.com/DoctorSparksShow/     Kelsey Derringer and Matt Chilbert Kelsey and Matt are teachers with a combined 30 years of teaching experience. They’ve taught ballet to 3 year olds, Arduino to teenagers, and everything in between; including teaching educators all over the world engineering, coding, and design thinking. They bring all this classroom experience and expertise to bear in designing digital learning experiences for CodeJoy. CodeJoy has created a live webinar studio that captures the essence of what it means to learn in a classroom. We combine multiple cameras, studio-quality video production, and thoughtful teaching to create an authentic classroom experience that you can join from anywhere. www.codejoyedu.com Join our next class for FREE here: www.codejoyedu.com/classes.   Sandy Roberts earned her B.S. in Chemical Biology from Stevens Institute of Technology with a Minor in Literature and Certificates in Chemical Engineering and Computer Science. After working in both publishing and pharmaceutical research for several years, she changed careers and became a middle school science, math, and engineering teacher. She also owns Kaleidoscope Enrichment, LLC, offering after school, homeschooling, and other local STEM and maker programs. Recently, she became the Makerspace Coordinator for the Warren County, NJ Library System and founded the system’s first Makerspace. Roberts regularly brings her Maker Camp projects to Maker Faires up and down the East Coast and has earned multiple ribbons for her work. She’s also presented at Maker Faire several times, sharing her Maker Camp success tips with fellow educators. Roberts is the author of “The Big Book of Maker Camp Projects” for McGraw-Hill. https://www.kaleidoscopeenrichment.com/ https://www.facebook.com/kaleidoscopeenrichment/     Andy Forest Andy’s passion and purpose are to empower kids to invent the future! Andy is the co-founder of Steamlabs, an education innovation non-profit helping all people to understand science and technology, and use them to solve their personal challenges, improve their communities and make the world a better place. Steamlabs’ current goal is for society to have a broad understanding of Artificial Intelligence for their own use as well as to empower them to advocate for equitable, ethical policies from companies and governments. Since 2010, Steamlabs has run programs for hundreds of thousands of participants at diverse makerspaces, science centres, libraries and other locations around the world. Steamlabs consults with science centers and educators in Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Oslo, Norway and London. Learn more about Steamlabs at https://www.steamlabs.ca Follow us on Twitter to hear about our programs: https://twitter.com/steam_labs   Register for the Maker Parent Happy Hour HERE and be part of our live zoom audience or watch and comment LIVE on the Family Maker Camp FB page.