Back in February, Tom & Liam (our intrepid Makey Makey Education team) travelled south of the border to Mexicali, the capital of Baja California, Mexico. Their mission? To lead a hands-on workshop for elementary school teachers and makerspace volunteers, as part of a broader initiative to promote STEM education initiatives in Mexican schools.

Organized with support from the US Consulate in Tijuana, the workshop was held at El Garage Makerspace at the Universidad 16 de Septiembre. Teachers attending the workshops then took part in a Makey Makey invention challenge using what they’d learnt to create something awesome back at school with their classes.

Many of the final inventions addressed particular problems, others were interactive teaching tools. The winning teacher received a scholarship to the Institute of the Americas STEM teacher training camp this summer where she can build on the skills and ideas introduced by the Makey Makey Education team in February.

“It was wonderful to see the creativity and energy with which the kids approached the design of their projects, and we were very happy to see the results,” said event organizer, Preeti Shah. “Without Tom and Liam’s enthusiastic support and willingness to come to Mexicali, we wouldn’t have had such a great turnout.”

Since the workshop event, El Garage has continued hosting Makey Makey training for other educators in Baja. (We love El Garage!)