The 11th annual Piedmont School Maker Faire took over the Piedmont High School campus on Sunday, May 18, with over 1,000 guests flocking to the campus to celebrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M.) education and to tinker with dozens of interactive exhibits.
Returning favorites like the Nerdy Derby caught the attention of students and adults alike to build a vehicle for the big jump. Equally captivating was the Maker River, where kids fortified small wooden boats before sending them to float down the wooden water course for test runs. This year, the faire even had indoor displays like that of the San Francisco Microscopical Society.
For refreshments, many fairgoers enjoyed cotton candy spun before their eyes at the cotton candy maker. Kids quenched their thirst with freshly pressed apple juice, complete with a demonstration of how it was squeezed.
Piedmont Scouts showed off a maker’s take on a traditional Scouting pastime with their Lego Pinewood Derby, where kids could make lego cars and race them side-by-side down a track to compare speeds.
Kids got to see technology and music interact at the Sensor Symphony Garage Band, a display of interactive musical instruments made from found and recycled objects and outfitted with motion-controlled sensors.
A popular addition to this year’s faire was a series of three pop-up putt putt holes, courtesy of Piedmont Recreation Department and The Circuit Breakers (Piedmont Robotics First Tech Challenge Team 21419). The final hole had participants putt the ball by controlling a robot in the Circuit Breakers’ Robo-Putt.
Piedmont School District was the first in the nation to host an official K-12 School Maker Faire in 2014. Dave Ragones co-founded Piedmont Makers in 2014 with Vince Monical.
The program and community Ragones and the Makers have built in the last years was on display at the faire, with the faire expanding this year to occupy the school’s Student Center and some classrooms.
“We definitely had more makers this year,“ said Ragones. “Because we had more makers this year, we expanded… we took over all of the high school campus, the pathways, but we started to go in some of the buildings as well.”
The peak of the Makers program is Team 8033 of Highlander Robotics which has qualified for the World Championships each year since COVID, including 2025.
“They’re consistently performing at a high level. They’re a top 100 team in the world, so it’s kind of amazing to think of where they started five or so years ago. Now they’re competing with the best teams in the world,” said Ragones.
Piedmont’s Robotics registration is still open for the fall. Interested community members may sign up at www.piedmontmakers. org/robotics.
“We’re the largest community youth robotics league in the U.S. and looking to continue to grow, so we appreciate the support,” said Ragones.
The 11th year of the Piedmont School Maker Faire brought the joy of learning to the high school campus, inspiring everyone to continue to learn, discover, and make.