Ampere is moving full steam ahead in Lindsay with its first series of educational summer camps in its new space for students of science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM).
At a media event on Thursday (July 10), Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott stopped by to see the team at Ampere and discuss the impact of a $200,000 capital grant the non-profit organization received in 2024 through the provincial government’s Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF).
The grant was used to purchase and install flooring and lighting at Ampere’s new makerspace, located at 12 Peel Street in Lindsay. The facility, which is more than triple the size of Ampere’s former makerspace, is now welcoming its first groups of summer campers.
“It’s exciting to see the (OTF) invest this $200,000 in Ampere association’s headquarters/makerspace renovation,” said MPP Scott in a media release. “This funding will help expand access to vital digital skills and technology services, helping to empower the people of Kawartha Lakes to take part in the growing STEAM economy.”
For over a decade, Ampere (formerly the Pinnguaq Association) has partnered with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities to provide people with access to STEAM education and opportunities.
Ampere said the new makerspace is designed and conceived to function as a learning space for people of all ages and will also serve as a community hub for events and gatherings of all types.
“The lighting and flooring are key elements of those objectives and are fundamental to creating a warm, welcoming space where community members of all ages can thrive,” the organization noted.
“This grant helped us create a warm environment that’s welcoming to all, but also flexible and able to adapt to unique learner or group needs,” said Ryan Oliver, Ampere’s CEO.
“Everything has been chosen intentionally, from floors that consider young learners and robot wheels, to lighting zones that create warm, natural light, while offering flexibility to accommodate specific event or participant needs.”
Ampere’s 4,500-square foot Lindsay makerspace is “filled with robots, maker kits, oozing oobleck, Minecraft marvels, and some of the best STEAM educators in Canada,” according to Ampere’s website. “It’s also a community hub where people of all ages can learn about and embrace the power that STEAM creates, in their own lives, in their own way.”
Ampere applies a “lifecycle” approach to education, which aims to ensure it’s supporting learners at every age and at every stage of life. The organization offers programming through its makerspaces in Lindsay, Iqaluit, Nunavut, and New Brunswick, and works directly with community partners, social organizations, governmental funders, and educational institutions across the country.
In another first for Ampere, the organization offered its inaugural STEAM School scholarship in the Kawartha Lakes this year. The scholarship was available to one child or youth between the ages of nine and 12 years old.
A value of more than $1,300, the scholarship allowed one child to attend STEAM school one day per week between January and June.
Jamie Steel, Ampere’s senior lead of community relations, told kawarthaNOW at the time that Ampere had high hopes for the scholarship and STEAM education overall. Steel said STEAM school gives children and youth the chance to explore their interests and passion for the subjects in a hands-on environment.
“Not only will what they learn help prepare them for the STEAM-powered world we live in, the way they learn — in an inclusive community of peers — is intended to support relationship building and a sense of belonging.”
The STEAM School, which Ampere launched in Kawartha Lakes in September 2024, is a day school that gives learners in Grades 4 to 6 the chance to advance their knowledge of STEAM subjects and learn how they can contribute to the STEAM sector.
To learn more about Ampere and STEAM education, visit amp.ca.
