Community Education Center of Elk & Cameron Counties’ Makerspaces Supported by West Penn Energy Fund

The Community Education Center of Elk & Cameron Counties (CEC) has been awarded $5,000 by the West Penn Energy Fund (WPEF) to support the buildout of their new makerspaces located in downtown St. Marys.

The WPEF grant will support the purchase of induction cooking equipment and supplies for the CEC’s new Cooking Studio as well as LED lighting upgrades throughout the Makerspaces. “We are very excited about this new partnership and are hopeful that this is just the beginning of a longer relationship with WPEF,” said Kate Brock, executive director of the CEC. Joel Morrison, fund administrator for WPEF shared that “the CEC’s facilities and programs align strongly with the WPEF’s initiative of supporting ‘Old Spaces, New Energy’ and educating students on the applications and benefits of induction cooking.”

The CEC has been facilitating credit, non-credit and enrichment programming for local community members and youth since 1991. The CEC is currently expanding their K-12 career pathways and STEM programming that takes place in their new makerspaces. A new cooking studio will primarily be used to teach middle school students with special needs the basics of cooking, kitchen safety, healthy eating, cleaning, and serving etiquette. This type of program will also help cultivate independence, increase social interaction, and the experience of teamwork. Other CEC makerspace studios include: podcasting/media lab, digital fabrication (3D printing/laser engraving), textile design and sewing, coding, and robotics. The learning studios will also host personal enrichment classes for adults and the general community.

Schools are invited to bring students during the school day to experience the learning studios. After-school and No-school Day programs also take place in the CEC makerspaces. The spring afterschool club begins February 10 and runs Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 2. For more information about the makerspaces contact Sam Mitchell, CEC Makerspace Manager, at sam@communityedcenter.com or 814-781-3437.

West Penn Energy Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit seeking transformational projects that will support the deployment of sustainable energy technologies in a manner that will improve the economic and environmental health of communities within the West Penn Power service region.

The funding is focused in three broad categories:

• Deployment of sustainable and clean energy technologies;

• Deployment of energy efficiency and conservation technologies; and

• Facilitating economic development, environmental betterment, and public education as they relate to sustainable energy deployment in the WPP service region.

See what WPEF’s project partners have to say on YouTube.

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Pic attached: Jr. Chef Xander perfects eggs in a nest during last summer’s Jr. Chefs camp.