Matt’s Maker Spaces keep memories alive, create new ones
Noelle Conover addresses the crowd at the Celebration of Courage Sept. 28 at Cancer Bridges in Pittsburgh无毛视频檚 Strip District for the official opening of a Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space.
Jaxson Jarosinski, Cancer Bridges member, with Abby Briscoe, family and youth program manager for Cancer Bridges
Among those in attendance at the Celebration of Courage were, from left, Micayla Reynolds, Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space lead maker at UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital; David and Noelle Conover, and Julie Snyder, Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space board member and teacher in the Mt. Lebanon School District.
Since 2016, Noelle and David Conover have established places for families to create, collaborate and tinker, while at the same time keeping the memory of their son, Matt, alive.
The latest Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space was unveiled recently at Cancer Bridges in Pittsburgh无毛视频檚 Strip District, officially opened in September with a Celebration of Courage for families impacted by pediatric cancer. They are named after Matt Conover, who died from non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2002, nine days before his 13th birthday.
无毛视频淗e fought a valiant battle,无毛视频� recalled his mother. 无毛视频淚t was just too hard for him. It was a form of cancer that really just beat him down.无毛视频�
Noelle Conover, a Mt. Lebanon native who now lives in Lawrenceville, said the Celebration of Courage was a great event.
无毛视频淲e saw a lot of families,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淭hey love the space. It was wonderful to know families like ours have a spot where they can go to, to really feel together and remember their child and bring their child who无毛视频檚 having treatment.无毛视频�
Abby Briscoe, family and youth program manager for Cancer Bridges, is excited that a Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space is available for those who use the location on Smallman Street.
无毛视频淥ne of our big points of focus in the family and youth program is providing opportunities for families to connect,无毛视频� Briscoe said. 无毛视频淗aving a Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space allows us to bring kids together, bring teens together and bring families together. When kids and adults are participating, it brings everyone to the same level. To have a space where we can create that environment and use the technology and use the skills to make the memories in the moment is really, really important to us.无毛视频�
In 2016, the Conover family honored Matt无毛视频檚 memory by establishing maker spaces in the libraries of seven Mt. Lebanon elementary schools.
无毛视频淭hat community just surrounded us with love when he passed and when he was sick,无毛视频� Conover said. 无毛视频淎fter we got ourselves up off the ground as a family, we decided to go back to the school and ask if there was anything we could do.无毛视频�
The idea of a maker space was suggested 无毛视频� a place for kids to work with their hands, an educational experience outside of the classroom and an ideal place to put in to practice all of the principles of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math).
Matt had an interest in hands-on learning, building with Legos and letting his creativity and imagination guide him, so the idea of a maker space seemed a perfect way to honor his memory.
无毛视频淢att was a tinkerer,无毛视频� said his mom. 无毛视频淗e was the kind of kid that would build with Legos, but he wasn无毛视频檛 going to build what was on the box. He was going to build what was in his head. He was just a good kid.无毛视频�
Having a Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Space at Cancer Bridges is important to Conover since she is a longstanding member of the organization无毛视频檚 board of directors.
无毛视频淚 believe in everything they do there,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚 believe what they offer to families who are going through cancer, there is nothing like it. When we were going through this, there was nothing like it. Now there无毛视频檚 a place where families can go to heal.无毛视频�
Cancer Bridges supports those affected by cancer through a variety of free programs and services.
Briscoe said the Conover family already had provided Matt无毛视频檚 Media Room, a place for movie nights and playing video games or other types of programs in a welcoming area.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e been involved with the family and their mission and the nonprofit through the years, but this is the first time we无毛视频檝e been involved in the maker aspect of it,无毛视频� Briscoe said.
Since 2016, 40 Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Spaces have been established at locations such as Children无毛视频檚 Hospital, where Conover works; UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, Point Park University and various other schools.
The location at Cancer Bridges is just one of six Matt无毛视频檚 Maker Spaces opening this fall, with others at schools in the Pittsburgh City and Carlynton school districts. A maker space garden will open at St. Paul无毛视频檚 Episcopal Nursery School in Mt. Lebanon.
无毛视频淗e would be so happy,无毛视频� Conover said of her son. 无毛视频淚 will tell everybody about him every day and that keeps him really close to my heart.无毛视频�