Welcome back to school, NYC Mouse Squads! At Mouse we know it can be hard getting back to school after those long summer months, but coming up on September 20 is our favorite way to get pumped for a new school year: Maker Faire!!!!

This year's NYC Maker Faire will feature HUNDREDS of exhibits in over 80 categories, from circuit bending to woodworking to rockets and more! This year's Bay Area Maker Faire in California featured exhibits on quantum levitation, a workshop on making telescopes, a pancake-making robot, and even a speech from Adam Savage of Mythbusters on the 10 Commandments of Making!

Maker Faire is a showcase for all things D.I.Y. ("Do It Yourself"), from solar powered cars to code to robots to arts and crafts and so much more! Mouse is proud to say that for the third year Mouse Corps students will be showing their assistive technology projects in the Young Makers Tent (if you were at Emoti-Con, you already got a sneak peek at these awesome projects!). So, come show your Mouse peers some love at this awesome event, too!

Registration for Maker Faire is full -- if you sign up now, you will be automatically placed on a waiting list and your space is not guaranteed.

THE DETAILS:

• BE READY: Mouse Squad Coordinators, you must collect signed permission forms from all students who will be coming with you, even if their parent or guardian is attending as a chaperone.
• WHERE: Maker Faire is at the New York Hall of Science in Queens -- click here for directions.
• WHEN: Mouse Squads will meet at the main entrance at 9:30am, and activities will go until 1:30pm. (Maker Faire runs until 7pm, so feel free to stay later!)
• WHAT ELSE? Mouse will provide lunch for all Mouse Squad Coordinators and members who attend, as well as roundtrip MetroCards for all Mouse Squad members!

What is Maker Faire, and why should you come?

MAKE is not only a quarterly, project-based magazine, it's also a physical event series called "Maker Faire" a very popular website, a book series, a Maker SHED, a television show - but most of all, it's a community of Makers who share their projects and skills. MAKE is what-you-MAKE-it. It's a growing DIY movement of people who look at things a little differently and who just might spark the next generation of scientists, engineers and makers.

So what does this have to do with your Mouse Squad?

• Get ideas for the Mouse Squad D.I.Y. Competition!
• Kick off your Mouse Squad year by plugging into the greater Mouse Squad community!
• Get inspiration for developing your own Garage Robotics project, GreenTECH project, or Serious Game!
• Teachers, network with other Mouse Squad Coordinators and share best practices!
• Hear about great updates to Mouse Squad's 2014-2015 programming!

To attend Maker Faire, your school must re-register for Mouse Squad!

To re-register, you must:

• Confirm with Jeremy that your school is re-registering for the 2014-15 school year, and share any updates to your school's contact information.
• Submit a purchase order for the $999 membership fee--you can pay this over FAMIS using your school's NYSSL budget. Mouse is currently a sole source vendor to the DOE, and you must contact Jeremy for an invoice for your school.

Please contact Jeremy ([email protected] or 646-574-6446) if you have any questions or need additional details to re-register.