Ridgeway Elementary School now has a brand new Makerspace thanks to a $350 mini-grant from the Manchester Township Educational Foundation and the Bruzaitis family. Mr. Tony Bruzaitis presented the donation made in memory of his parents, Ella & Anthony Bruzaitis. Makerspaces are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent and learn, often with a focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math). Mr. Bruzaitis, who attended Ridgeway School as a child, had the opportunity to try out some of the Makerspace materials with a few very enthusiastic students from the school's GT (Gifted & Talented) program. The equipment included Lego building bricks, Lego Contraptions and Chain Reactions kits, a Qubits building kit, a Wheels & Axles engineering kit, a Makey Makey electronics kit, and a Design Studio game. Ridgeway School Principal, Mrs. Nikki Mazur, said that she is excited about the donation and what it will mean to her students. "We are so grateful to the MTEF and the Bruzaitis family for helping us to create our own Makerspace," she said. The Makerspace will be located in a corner of the school's computer lab and will to be available to all classes, and possibly even after-school programs. Mrs. Mazur said she hopes to have the teachers try out the equipment first to learn how to help guide their students. Mr. Bruzaitis's father, Anthony Bruzaitis, was instrumental in the building of the original Ridgeway School, which was called Manchester Elementary School at the time. He was on the Board of Education and was also Mayor of Manchester in the late 50's and early 60's. At the same time, Ella Bruzaitis was highly involved in the PTA and Ridgeway Civic Club.
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