1. education
2. school

FY 2014 Annual Report
“Atlanta's Most Innovative Venture”
By Amarion Rackley, KIPP 5th grader.
This is a story of a truck,
transformed
into a center of imagination & innovation.
Hello, We’re Community Guilds
Work hard. Tackle problems. Design solutions. Build something.
It’s Been an Amazing First Year
Dear Friends & Family,
Enduring crazy long hours of caffeine-induced inspiration and perspiration. Plummeting into moments of
spirit-crushing doubt. Holding on for dear life when everything blows up. Or falls off a truck.
The story of the lone entrepreneur runs deep in our culture. Starting a nonprofit
is much the same save for one difference: we travel together, not alone.
Two years ago, Jason started developing a new educational experience; today,
we are celebrating the first anniversary of Community Guilds. Jason’s work
was guided by these goals:
• Ignite student engagement
• Develop traits essential to success including grit, perseverance and
collaboration
• Increase interest among underrepresented populations in STEM (science,
technology, engineering and math)
Community Guilds is a startup
nonprofit that teaches 21st-century
skills the old-fashioned way – by
using the mentor-apprentice
model to spark engagement,
develop ingenuity, and build grit.
STE(A)M Truck is our program for
primary and middle schoolers. It is
a 20-day curriculum centered
around our mobile makerspace,
and it harnesses the collective
expertise of the broader community.
We bring maker mentors, STEM
designers and local artists together,
and have youth tackle real
problems, design solutions and
build things together.
(Note: STEM stands for science,
technology, engineering and math.
STE(A)M adds art.)
Apprenticeships will be our
semester-long program for high
school students, who will be
paired with artists or craftspeople
to learn real-world skills that result
in physical products.
2
Our general goals are familiar –
boost the nation’s third lowest high
school graduation rate and increase
the percentages of graduates
entering and finishing college – and
increase the number of students
from underrepresented populations
that choose STEM careers.
Our approach overcomes issues of
engagement, expectations and
efficacy.
• Engaging students is
challenging, and relevancy of
material is often a factor.
• Schools’ and teachers’
expectations of students
struggling with STEM sometimes negatively impact
students’ expectations of
themselves.
• After decades of attempted
reform, the trajectory of
struggling students remains
fundamentally unaltered; most
public schools are simply not
designed to impart the
competencies needed to
succeed in the 21st century.
Reed Dyer
• Decrease Georgia’s dropout rate, the nation’s third highest
• Stir public school interest in approaches that impart critical skills through
tackling practical problems
So we engage kids with real-world
problems; teach them how to
address those problems with real
solutions, thus increasing their
self-confidence; and incorporate
the development of non-cognitive
assets such as grit and
collaboration that lead to success
in school and life. We also level
the playing field; most students
have limited experience with the
tools, equipment, methods and
processes that we present, so all
students enjoy a fresh start.
Like many startups, we zigged and then zagged. As circumstances unfolded,
our secondary focus became primary. The idea of a mobile makerspace, as it
turns out, resonates with a lot of people.
Work hard. Tackle problems.
Design solutions. Build something.
Community Guilds provides
transformational experiences that
ignite passions, incite change, and
start to close the gap in
underrepresentation in STEM
careers.
Despite all the success of year one, we are truly just beginning. There is so much more to do, so many lives to
transform. Thanks again, and welcome to Community Guilds; our road ahead is filled with wondrous journeys.
And we’re just getting started.
And suddenly we became that proverbial snowball rapidly gaining steam
down the mountain. After a year of working with no funding, we soon found
ourselves awash in support. After doing almost everything by himself, Jason
was working with new partners left and right. And after a small pilot of four
students, hundreds of people are now being exposed to the STE(A)M Truck.
Jason Martin
So this is the story of a truck transformed into a center of imagination and innovation. We are in awe of the kind
and generous support we have received, and list all of our contributors on pages 14 and 15. But we would
especially like to thank that first anonymous donor, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, the Home Depot
Foundation, Cognizant, our pilot schools Kindezi and KIPP WAYS, our teaching artists at WonderRoot, and all
the students we have had the privilege to serve; they have allowed us to fail, and we are the better for it.
Reed Dyer
President, Board of Directors
Jason Martin
Founder & Executive Director
3
around additional equipment,
tools and supplies, and to
conduct a pilot with one of the
KIPP schools.
Transforming a Truck
We didn’t plan it this way.
When Jason Martin embarked on
this journey with the 4.0 Schools
fellowship in hand, he developed
and piloted a curriculum for a
high school apprenticeship
program. His STE(A)M Truck
program was placed on the back
burner due to cost.
But in the summer of 2013, Jason
found himself telling a potential
supporter about his idea for a
mobile makerspace that could
serve hundreds of students a year.
By the end of the conversation,
Jason had himself a truck. It was a
loaner, but it gave him the
opportunity to test out his idea.
And not a moment too soon. The
Atlanta Mini Maker Faire was
only a month away; Jason had
only 30 days to retrofit the truck
into a makerspace on wheels and
make a favorable impression on
the Atlanta community.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Jason’s prototype STE(A)M Truck
made its debut at the Maker Faire,
and within 30 days, Community
Guilds received its first large
infusion: $20,000 from the
original anonymous donor to buy
a truck to replace the loaner. A
few months later, the Arthur M.
Blank Family Foundation issued a
$63,000 grant to retrofit the used
truck, to purchase an
accompanying trailer to haul
Community Guilds also picked up
significant funding from the
Home Depot Foundation and
Cognizant, a Fortune 500 IT
services company. Their
contributions helped outfit the
truck and trailer with all its tools
and high-tech equipment
including a 3D printer, a CNC
router, and a CNC drill press.
As for the actual work of
transformation, inventor Shane
Before
4
Ever the forward-looking
executive, Jason said that the
most difficult aspect of truck
design was scalability. "We went
into this wanting to produce not
just one STE(A)M Truck, but 16,
one for each regional education
service agency (RESA) in
Georgia," said Jason. "That
transformed every purchase into
an evaluation of long-term
product availability, ease of
deployment and use, and
potential for in-kind donations."
So, what started out as
Community Guilds’ secondary
project suddenly emerged as the
blazing center of attention, and
within a few short months, went
from words on paper to a fully
refurbished and equipped
mobile makerspace ready for its
first group of eager students. It
might seem serendipitous, but
like so many that meet with
success, we echo the sentiment
that "luck favors the prepared."
After
“I’ve been working hard to help grow
our next group of inventors,
entrepreneurs and innovators, and the
STE(A)M Truck helps fulfill that
mission. There’s over $100,000 of very
cool technology and equipment on the
truck, but the #1 item is passion.
Without passion you have nothing.”
Shane Matthews: Advisor, ATDC & Advisory
Board Member, Community Guilds
Matthews, a local maker who
holds over a dozen patents,
served as principal designer and
oversaw the many volunteers
whose labor resulted in what we
see today.
“The maker movement, with
enterprises like Community Guilds, is
a force whose time has come because
the 21st century desperately needs a
creative education movement that
engages young and old..”
Atiba Mbiwan: Associate Director,
The Zeist Foundation & Advisory Board
Member, Community Guilds
Our trailer
5
Transforming Learning
The STE(A)M Truck, for all the
attention it receives, is merely the
physical manifestation of
Community Guilds’ underlying
goals: to transform learning by
providing potentially transformative experiences that leverage
active learning principles.
By engaging students in real-world
problems, analyzing problems,
evaluating solutions, and working
Spark: On Day 1, the
STE(A)M Truck
opens its doors to
scores of students
who explore “what is
making” by participating in numerous
maker activities.
Reverse Engineer:
Destruction, it is said,
is fundamental to
design. Students are
guided through a
reverse engineering
exercise to understand
how an object works
in order to gain the
insight needed to build
a new and improved
version.
6
collaboratively, we aim to transform actually love to learn. Ultimately,
how students see themselves.
we hope that many students we
serve will stop fearing math and
Through our STE(A)M Truck
science, and come to see STEM
program, we want students to see
careers as real possibilities.
themselves as problem solvers,
designers, builders, and the sort of What distinguishes our offering
people who finish what they start.
from those of other organizations
We seek to create such compelling that leverage the maker movement
experiences that youth can't help
is depth; true transformation rebut see themselves as kids who
quires diving deep. A one-day visit
Lesson Plan
Explore
• Spark event
• Do first activities
• Practice a skill
Design
• Construct: Prototype
• Discover: Mind Map
• Identify: Issues
Build
• Devise: Mock-up
• Examine: Reverse
Engineer
Share
• Report: Exhibit
• Wrap-up: Self
Assessment
Grit: Developing grit is a major goal. Grit is what pushes
someone to pursue a goal over a long period of time; it
also predicts academic success better than standardized
tests. STE(A)M Truck demands grit through challenging
students to repeatedly execute, to improve with each
iteration. And to do so in a challenging environment:
outdoors, hot or cold, rain or shine, standing throughout.
Ideas That Drive
with a makerspace is like a single
bite of an appetizer – more frustrating than filling. We deliver a 20day, on-site experience; a full
course meal. Our lesson plan covers four phases of activity: exploration, design, build and share.
Below is our “menu” for the
STE(A)M Truck program. Please take
a moment to sample each course!
Stanford Design
Thinking: Students are
given new tools,
methods and processes
so they can develop new
answers for challenges,
big and small. They
brainstorm and then
build innovative solutions.
Report: Students report
to the entire school on
the processes they
followed and the final
product that emerged.
They set up exhibits
that include photographs, and host the
event. And on the last
day, they wrap up by
reflecting and conducting a self assessment.
At some point, Jason Martin
realized that the dynamic
surrounding schools did not
embrace change.
“Look at a pictures of a classroom
from 1910 and today,” says Jason.
“They look exactly the same.”
Yet, Jason believes that schools
can be transformed. And
Community Guilds represents
almost everything needed for that
transformation.
Insight came upon reflection: none
of Jason’s own transformational
experiences happened in a
classroom. “I grew up an urban
child on welfare,” says Jason, “but
I also had the opportunity to work
hard and use my hands after
moving to a farm. That unique
combination instilled grit and a
DIY (do-it-yourself) attitude.”
Transformative experiences are
powerful because they impart selfknowledge. “We want to show
kids that they capable of more
than they ever imagined,” says
Jason. “Give them real problems.
Show them how to create
solutions. Is there anything more
powerful we can teach than
solving real problems?”
The STE(A)M Truck experience is
also designed for efficacy. “Being
outside one's comfort zone is
where true learning happens,” says
Jason, “and few students have
experience with a makerspace.”
Then there is the notion that
teaching never happens, only
learning. It recognizes that no
matter how much knowledge a
teacher has, the only knowledge
absorbed is what’s desired.
That makes passion essential. “The
guild model makes sense because
artists and craftspeople are so
passionate,” says Jason. “They
light fires in so many kids.”
Finally, there are expectations.
And expectations of disadvantaged
students can be quite low. Again,
Jason reaches into his past – his
first year as a teacher – to
illustrate.
“I was the rare educator that
received an unsatisfactory rating
on my first evaluation,” recounts
Jason. “My choice was simple:
quit or get better.”
Jason doubled down, of course,
and at the end of his third year,
was nominated for Teacher of the
Year. “What I learned was that a
solid work ethic, perseverance and
not settling for the status quo can
get you far in life” says Jason.
That’s a lesson Jason seeks to
spread through Community Guilds
by setting high expectations for all
children in Atlanta and Georgia.
7
Transforming Students
Truck? Check.
Curriculum? Check.
Students? That was the next
challenge.
Fortunately, Jason Martin, founder
and executive director of
Community Guild, found a
kindred spirit in Allen Mueller,
executive director of innovation
for Atlanta Public Schools (APS).
Like Jason, both of Allen's parents
worked with their hands. So when
Allen was introduced to the
STE(A)M Truck, he immediately
grasped its promise.
“…the overwhelming
success of the program
pilot…”
Kindezi Dissemination Report
Engagement is a huge issue in
schools and Allen understood that
hands-on, problem-based learning
offered an alternative, especially to
unmotivated students. He was
confident that the STE(A)M Truck
could engage students. The
question was: how much?
But an even bigger question was
long-term feasibility. Can a 20-day
program fit within the structure of
the regular school day? Will
teachers support it? Can children
use tools without getting hurt?
To get answers, the Kindezi
School and KIPP Ways, both APS
charter schools, were chosen as
pilot sites. Allen chose and
funded the pilot at Kindezi. KIPP
was chosen because of ties Jason
8
had with KIPP. That pilot was
funded by the Arthur M. Blank
Family Foundation.
And the answers? They were all
“yes!” The Kindezi dissemination
report, although qualitative in
nature, stated that “students were
clearly engaged and excited”
about the problem they were
solving, which was encouraging
kids to eat more vegetables. In
addition, “there was clear growth
in students’ self-reliance and
willingness to try something new.”
The report continued: “every
student learned to hand stitch
fabrics, use power and hand
tools, take apart and put together
electronics, create thinking maps
(and) organize problem solving
strategies using design thinking.”
“…students were
clearly engaged and
excited…”
Kindezi Dissemination Report
And students produced a number
of physical objects including
cedar bento boxes and newfangled chopsticks.
Strikingly, students found that the
most powerful part of the
experience wasn't the tools and
technologies themselves, but the
fact that “they were encouraged
to use them.”
Outputs
The numbers below are for
both the Kindezi and KIPP
pilots.
Student visitors,
SPARK events:
550
Students served,
20-day program:
55
Instructional hours:
280
Student visitors,
Share events:
450
Adult visitors,
Share events:
150
Student inventions:
70
“…there was clear
growth in students’
self-reliance and
willingness to try
something new.”
Kindezi Dissemination Report
9
STE(A)M Truck Gets Graded
Every single student from the Kindezi and KIPP pilots was asked the same three questions after the pilots:
•
•
•
What did you like most about STE(A)M Truck?
How will this experience help you in school and life?
Would you do this again?
The overwhelming response to the first question was the ability to “use real tools.”
Responses to the second question were considerably more varied, from overcoming fears, to learning about
teamwork, to doing things again and again, to learning to like the STE(A)M subjects.
As for the third question, there was one girl who would never do STE(A)M Truck again; she didn’t like to be
outside, or use tools, or get her hands dirty. The rest of her cohort, however, were ready to do it again; the
STE(A)M Truck experience was fun, and something they wouldn’t have an opportunity to do otherwise.
“One thing STE(A)M Truck
taught me is to… know
what to improve on, and
being able to do that
process over and over and
over again.”
Kindezi 6th grader
“We talk about teamwork all
the time, but here I actually
need my teammates to
help me to be successful.”
KIPP 8th Grader
“I saw kids that I taught in 6th grade that weren't invested and
just weren't as interested, out here in love with what they were
doing every single day because it was hands-on, it was a realworld focus, and they were actually able to own a lot of the
decisions. By the end of it, they definitely took away the lesson
we wanted… which was start something and finish strong so that
you can actually appreciate the impact of (your efforts)… I think
from this they also recognize the main thing we always say – that
you are powerful beyond measure.”
Year One Accomplishments
Completed 4.0 Schools Launch Fellowship
July ’13
Conducted apprenticeship pilot
July ’13
Unveiled STE(A)M Truck prototype at
Atlanta Mini Maker Faire
Oct ’13
Raised funds to purchase own truck
Nov ’13
Awarded “Making the Future” grant from Cognizant
Dec ’13
Awarded contract from Atlanta Public Schools
to pilot STE(A)M Truck at Kindezi School
Jan ’14
Awarded Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation
grant to build out truck, purchase trailer
Feb ’14
Awarded Home Depot grant for tools, equipment
Mar ’14
Built out STE(A)M Truck 2.0
Mar ’14
Unveiled new STE(A)M Truck at
Atlanta Science Festival
Mar ’14
Conducted STE(A)M Truck pilots at Kindezi
School & KIPP WAYS
Awarded Rotary Club grant
May ’14
Selected as Google Maker affiliate
June ’14
Winner, Atlanta's Most Innovative Venture,
Good Frenzy Atlanta
June ’14
Finalist, STEM Education Awards ,Technology
Association of Georgia
June ’14
Claudine Miles, Upper School Dean, KIPP WAYS
M o s t I n n o v a t i v e Ve n t u r e
10
Apr–May ’14
Statement of Activities
The Road Ahead
July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014
Income
Fee for service
Grants
Donations
Total Income
$50,000
$68,000
$32,000
$150,000
Expenses
Administration
Capital
Programming
Total Expenses
Income Less Expenses
$20,000
$70,000
$45,000
$135,000
$15,000
Design by Peter Quinn, Caity Taylor, Meghana Melkote and Summer Cao.
Community Guilds’ immediate
goal is to get the STE(A)M Truck
program in as many Metro Atlanta
schools as possible.
Tech students provided us with
many great ideas to improve upon
our current design. One of the
many ideas is illustrated above.
But given the need, the gap and the
enormous potential, that’s just
getting started. STE(A)M Truck has
been designed to scale, and our
medium-term goal is to increase
access statewide by providing a
STE(A)M Truck for every regional
education service agency (RESA) in
Georgia, 16 in all, by 2017.
Beyond that, our vision is a mobile
makerspace for every school district
with at least 10 elementary and
middle schools… in all 50 states.
But even a nation full of STE(A)M
Trucks is just part of the ultimate
solution, which is to transform how
schools teach. Our biggest goal is
the broad adoption of new
pedagogical approaches. “I'd like
to be the Johnny Appleseed of
STEM education,” says Jason
Martin, founder and executive
director of Community Guilds. “In
order to make a big impact, we
have to inspire change in schools.”
And we have, in fact, started
designing STE(A)M Truck 2.0.
Recently, three teams of Georgia
12
And it appears that Community
Guilds is on its way. The Kindezi
organization, of which the Kindezi
School is its first institution, had
been planning a STEM-focused
second school prior to
encountering STE(A)M Truck. Our
pilot with Kindezi School has
influenced its thinking around how
to organize studio time.
"What impressed us about the pilot
was the way the kids really
engaged in the STE(A)M Truck
projects" said Gilberte Pascal,
principal of the new Kindezi
school that's slated to open in fall
2015. "Our students attacked each
project with purposeful excitement
and this is the kind of focus we
want to duplicate at our new
school. What we are learning
from STE(A)M Truck is how to
teach the creative thinking behind
the science; we have to be as
engaging as the STE(A)M Truck."
13
With Profound Gratitude
A nonprofit gets started with a mere idea, boundless energy and more than a dollop of
optimism. But like all ventures, nothing happens without sufficient funding.
Agil Agil
Bob Goodman
Ginger O'Leary
And understandably, year one can be severely nerve-racking. Beyond gratitude, we are
humbled by the outpouring of support we’ve enjoyed in this, our inaugural year, from major
Atlanta philanthropic organizations, to friends, family members and neighbors.
Anonymous
Adam Green
David Ornstein
Chris Appleton
Kawal Grover
Jessica Page Poggioli
Kate Avebe
Gordon Hall
Peter Pages
Claire Baralt
Steven & Joelle Hankin
Jill Patton
Damodaram Bashyam
Burt & Lo Hoffner
Edward Petrou
Kevin Byers
Jenny Hoffner
Jeffrey Petrou
Patricia Campbell
Sam Hoffner
Melissa K. Place
Matt Candler
Bella Hoffner-Martin
Samuel Rauschenberg
Susan Carstensen
Nancy M. Horn
Kay Reed
Carolyn Catanese
David Jacobs
Joseph Reynolds
Lisa Clarke & Meredith
Marchbank
David Jernigan
Jody Richards
Charlotte Kaiser
Joan Sanford
Justin Cohen
Kevin Kelly
Stephanie Schrag
James Conneran
Joshua Kol
Jason Schwartz
Gwen Davies
Vesna Krnjetin
Sachin Sharma
Bill & Sheila Davis
Maila Krnjetin
Catherine Shiel
Bettina Dennis
Paul Marquardt
Bernard Shuster
William Reed Dyer
Gregory & Ann Martin
Bert Skellie
George Flanagan
Jason Martin
Deborah Slowata
Joy Fowler
Atiba Mbiwan
Emily Spector
Ariela Freedman
Kate McGregor Mosley
Brenda Stines
Michael Galchinsky
Kristen Mielhe
George & Wendy Thomas
Ann Gardner
Juan Mora
Marc Waxman
Tate Garrett
Vijai Narayanan
Gerald Willis
Not one of us achieves alone. At Community Guilds, we feel this truth in our bones every
day. A large organization with a healthy balance sheet might not feel a chill wind, but we
literally would not be here today if it weren't for you, our donors and supporters.
“Thank you” is never enough, but we are hopeful that the difference we make – together –
is all the thanks we really need. For our children, our schools, our state, and a future in
which STE(A)M education in America is unparalled and accessible to all, may we build
upon our triumphs in year two. Thank you for being with us from the very beginning.
Institutional Donors
14
Individual Donors
Board of Directors, FY 2013-14
Board of Advisors, FY 2013-14
William Reed Dyer, President
Senior Associate, Great Schools
Partnership
Cape Elizabeth, ME
Dr. Folami Prescott Adams
Director of Leadership, KIPP Metro Atlanta
Kevin Byers, Treasurer
Principal, Parkside Associates, LLC
Atlanta, GA
Jonathan Grunberg, Secretary
Associate, Wood, Hernacki & Evans,
LLC
Atlanta, GA
Jeffrey Petrou
Owner, Jump Solutions
Durham, NC
Sam Hoffner
VP of Operations, Wholesale Carrier
Services, Inc.
Parkland, FL
Maria Ebrahimiji
Journalist, CNN; Co-founder “I Speak
for Myself”
Atlanta
Matt Candler
Founder/CEO, 4.0 Schools
New Orleans
Dr. Ariela Freedman
Owner and Founder, MavenTree Consulting;
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Emory
Atlanta
Adam Green
Founder/Executive Director, Rocking
the Boat
New York City
David Jernigan
Deputy Superintendent, Atlanta Public
Schools
Shane Mathews
Advisor ATDC, Founder My Inventor Club
Atlanta
Atiba Mbiwan
Associate Director, Zeist Foundation,
Atlanta
Community Guilds
501 Dancing Fox Road
Atlanta, GA 30032
info@community-guilds.org
community-guilds.org
Please consider supporting us with a gift of time,
treasure, or in-kind contribution. Contact Jason at
jason@community-guilds.org to discuss options.