Welcome to Kids MakeIt
Kids MakeIt® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and unique 21st Century educational institution solely focused on exposing youth to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) skills and careers. Our programs enable children to explore the boundaries of innovation and imagine the possibilities through dreaming, designing, engineering and making. Kids are challenged to create new, inventive designs, while also considering principles of business, such as rapid prototyping, marketing, shipping and profit. We also incorporate entrepreneurship as well as other best business practices into their classrooms lessons.
Kids MakeIt STEM programs:
- Promotes 21st century skills such as teamwork, communication, and collaboration as well as financial literacy through engaging, hands-on challenges that merge invention and business concepts.
- Brings the wisdom, ingenuity and inspiration of the Black Inventors Hall of Fame (BIHF) and National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) Inductees into the classroom and lives of students.
- Gives students the opportunity to sketch, incubate, prototype, test, reflect and refine their ideas through activities that promote self-expression and self-confidence.
- Introduces children to world-changing inventors, aligning with research done by the Equality of Opportunity Project, which describes how exposure to innovation increases the chance children will become innovators themselves.
Developed as a STEAM Makerspace, Kids MakeIt is available to area youth as an afterschool program, summer enrichment camp, or virtual learning STEAM program. Our aim is to provide a happy and stimulating environment and a well-balanced program, allowing every child to develop his/her/their potential at his/her/their own pace. Kids MakeIt programs are parent-paid but also qualify for Title I, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Migrant Education and State & Local resource funding, contingent upon community partnership(s).
Our Mission
Our purpose is to inspire and capture the career and business ambitions of Lexington’s North End youth while providing them with STEAM opportunities to explore their creativity.
Our Vision
“We believe that the best way to address poverty is to expand educational opportunities that enable all children to succeed in school, career and life.”
– Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
As a kid growing up in the inner city of Miami, I learned the power of immersing myself in the sciences. My special place for science exploration was staged in our backyard, where my dad created a plant nursery business filled with exotic plants and animals to interact with. These early experiences stimulated my interest in the science field and later motivated me to pursue a degree in Biology at the University of Kentucky and Biotechnology at Easter Kentucky University. Kids MakeIt is an extension of my childhood exploration. It’s a place that provides a creative educational space for Lexington’s North End youth focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM). At Kids MakeIt, youth are provided with education, training, and resources to foster STEAM skills and entrepreneurship opportunities that will ultimately make them competitive in the global workforce.
~ David Laurenvil
Kids MakeIt isn’t interested in what we can do for students. We are interested in what students can do for themselves, with the right inspiration, motivation, and training. We are interested in teaching students how to think critically, innovate and adapt to their environment, and break the chains of conventional thought, societal dogmas, or respectability politics. The future is now and our kids are that future.
~ J. Nicole Gordon
Darnell Garret
Co-Director / STEAM Educator
Darnell is a senior at Frederick Douglass High and is the owner-designer of Ethnic Awareness, a relational app focused on encouraging cultural and ethnic unity. He is a student leader at Reed Oak Forest School’s Conservation club, enjoys designing videos and video games, and plans to spend time abroad in Japan.
