Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Day 69: Learn to Weld from a Ten Year Old Girl



Women,  Welding, and Wine  
hmmm those are three words you don't often see together.    And as you keep reading the description to the workshop announcement Project H Website  you'll certainly take a second look as your read....



"Ladies, come learn how to weld like a 10-year-old girl… Over the course of this 3 hour workshop, our executive director Emily Pilloton, program manager Rebecca Beamer, and four of our all-star Camp H alumnae girls (ages 9-12) will teach you the basics of MIG welding and working with dimensional steel stock."


Well,  I might not have believed it myself if I had not just spend an hour listening to Emily Pilloton tell the story of Project H at today's SxSwEDU closing session.





Emily's story (starting with her first crush... MacGuyver)  captured the audience today at SxSwEDU in Austin Texas.  It is an incredible story of a female architect who wanted to change the way we design and build.   As cofounder and executive director of Project H, she has done just that.

Project H is an in school design and building class which started in North Carolina that has recently moved to Berkeley where students use their core subjects to build projects that impact the world around them.  According to their website, they have built "farmers market pavilion, a pop-up park, laser-etched skateboards, sculptural concrete public furniture, roadside farmstands, and more. Through experimentation, non-stop production, tinkering, and a lot of dirt under their fingernails, students develop the creative capital, critical thinking, and citizenship necessary for their own success and for the future of their communities."

Watching  Emily's Ted Talk will give you a taste of her passion and her work.  A recent documentary "If you Build It"  will give you a chance to look even deeper into the impact of her work. 





I was not the only one who was inspired by Emily Pilliton this afternoon.  Great choice SxSwEDU!

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