Maker Faire, opportunity, a magician and teachers 

With so many STEM projects on the market with perfectly portioned and precut in mail order kits these days, something important gets lost that the Maker Faire and community bring to life in a very real way. 

In a world where we yearn for guarantees and too often discount opportunities — perhaps because to turn opportunity into guarantee it often requires some self-reflection and actual participation to will success to life — the maker community offers people something completely different: no guarantees. Instead, you are presented with all the messy opportunities you can grab a hold of. You’re offered the chance to learn more than you probably ever will, including that it is perfectly OK for things to not be perfect the first time — or even the 15th time — because iterating and amending is a part of life. But, nothing happens if you don’t first try.

An aspect of learning where I think modern society really misses the mark is simply letting kids (and adults) sit in their own frustration. 

I would argue that it’s in the frustration of sifting through drawers and boxes looking for the right screw or bolt or piece of wood where you find something that is good enough for you to test whether your idea even works. Or perhaps you are forced to take a break and walk away from that frustration and, with some space away from the problem, a new idea emerges. In that process maybe you also realize that perfection is an illusion because you’re never really done refining an idea in the real world. Rather, most people eventually decide to stop because “good enough” is good enough or they simply get bored and move on to a different problem.

This past weekend, we hauled our family to Maker Faire at Mare Island. For my kids, the highlight was Mario the Magician, a New York-based performer who filled a large warehouse with several thousand little and big tinkerers shouting at the top of their lungs “Do what you love! Use what you have! Never give up!” and dedicated his show to his 11th grade teacher who inspired him to see that art, love, science and tinkering were his superpowers to living a life of which he was proud. 

My 11-year-old, who knows me too well, glanced over at me halfway through the show and asked, “Mama, are you crying yet?” And of course, the answer was yes.

He knows why. Educators have been so important in my life. My sophomore English teacher lived across the street from us in Millbrae. When it was time to apply for college and write my essays, she helped me think through my story and somehow knew what questions to ask, perhaps because we were neighbors and I had grown up in front of her. In fact, many of our educators and administrators lived a local commute to their school —Mr. Compton, Mr. Wheeler, Mrs. Territo, Mr. Huie, Mr. Phillips and more.

These days, more often than not, this is not the case. Kids don’t run into their teachers at the market on the weekends much anymore, mostly because their teachers are more likely to live in a lower cost part of the Bay Area and make the often long daily commute here to teach. I was thrilled when in 2018 Jefferson Union High School District in Daly City pushed forward with workforce housing, which opened its doors just a few months ago. San Mateo-Foster City School District, where “73 educators hired in the past three years live in over 33 cities that require lengthy commutes with significant vehicle traffic,” is now beginning to discuss housing as a retention strategy.

What is the path forward here? Multipronged, I’m certain of it. Yes, sometimes it feels like a broken record. But we must continue to try, for our kids and for our educators.

Annie Tsai is chief operating officer at Interact (tryinteract.com), early stage investor and advisor with The House Fund (thehouse.fund), and a member of the San Mateo County Housing and Community Development Committee. Find Annie on Twitter @meannie.