The STE(A)M Team

Jason Martin founded the not-for-profit Community Guilds in 2013 to transform public education. Through Community Guilds, kids tackle real problems, design solutions, get their hands dirty, and then, with community experts, build amazing innovations together. Community Guilds harnesses the power of the maker movement to provide apprenticeship learning, entrepreneurship as well as school based programs that seek to both ignite a love of learning in students and transform teaching in schools. To close growing inequities and ensure all kids thrive, he created a vehicle-literally and figuratively- that brings this experience and parks it right outside the classroom door.    STE(A)M Truck , is a mobile makerspace that launched 2014, and three years later, is a growing fleet that serves over 4,000 elementary and middle school youth each year. Jason holds degrees from Columbia and Rutgers University and started working in public education after serving as a Teach For America Corps member.  He taught in some of the lowest performing schools in New Jersey, was awarded Teacher of the Year, and helped launch the first charter school in New York City.  Prior to his work at Community Guilds, Jason worked as a school turnaround expert and policy wonk, but believes he learned what it takes to be an effective educational reformer from his work as a mason’s apprentice, kindergarten teacher, and Outward Bound instructor. Jason lives with his wife and two daughters on an organic farm in Atlanta, Georgia.

Jason Martin

Executive Director

Melanie is the Program Director at STE(A)M Truck, where she works closely with makers, students, teachers, artists, and administrators to facilitate collaboration and ensure that our programs engage, excite, and transform while aligning with educational standards. Melanie’s background includes over a decade of experience in education, research, and self-taught making; she holds a graduate degree in cognitive science, with a focus on the cognitive and developmental processes that underpin learning. Melanie is a firm believer that, with a bit of gumption and the power of Google, anyone can learn to do just about anything. She describes STE(A)M Truck as “an absolutely perfect intersection of all the things she’s ever done and the things that excite her.”

MELANIE TUMLIN

Program Director

Domenic Liggett is the Operations Manager for Community Guilds, a role he describes as the MacGyver of the organization. "If you need if fixed, set up, made better, or created from scratch I'm your guy," says Domenic. "There isn't a problem I won't tackle, from laser cutters to automotive." Domenic gets charged up by helping kids grow their self confidence. "It is very gratifying to be the one to show a child how to solder for the first time, how to measure and cut wood for the first time," said Domenic. In his spare time, Domenic likes making things he's never made before, or helping others make whatever they want to make. 

Domenic Liggett

Operations Manager

Entrepreneur Bill Schnitzer, whose company Quality Fabricators serves the apparel retail, fabric care, and manufacturing industries, is Community Guilds’ CFO. He is drawn to the work of STE(A)M Truck because it targets kids who might not otherwise have a meaningful exposure to STEM education. Bill enjoys biking,  hiking, cooking, traveling, and yoga in his spare time.
 
Danielle Brutto is a painter – including commissioned work such as signs, murals, and scenic pieces – and an Artist In Residence for Community Guilds. As a working artist, she doesn't spend time with children on a daily basis, so it’s that contact that most excites her about working on STE(A)M Truck projects. "Just to spend time with them, and to see their excitement over being able to make things is incredibly satisfying," says Danielle. Art making almost never stops with Danielle. In her spare time, she enjoys weaving and playing music; she even has her own band, Din, the music of which she characterizes as "experimental."

DANIELLE BRUTTO

Artist in Residence

Keith Devries is a professional maker, and a Maker Mentor in the STE(A)M Truck program. "I spend my free time making all sorts of things," says Keith. "I've built a wide variety of costumes, from Buzz Lightyear to Sulley from Monster's Inc., to a larger-than-life queen of a wine festival. I recently built a cargo bike and got to develop my skills as a welder a little further. I've always been interested in exploring new materials and tools and the possibilities they bring." Keith is excited to share the love of making with kids and hopes his passion and enthusiasm rubs off. He views the hands-on practical skills that STE(A)M Truck teaches, as well as the non-cognitive traits such as grit and optimism, as being essential and highly transferable, so much so that he wants to see all young people have the opportunity to develop them. 

Keith Devries

Maker Mentor

Jamera Jones is an AmeriCorps Maker VISTA Member for STE(A)M Truck. Although very excited about this new opportunity to work in STE(A)M education, she has always had a passion for working with underprivileged youth. She is very excited to be working with the development of the organization and to be bettering the education of those in Atlanta. She is an AmeriCorps and Washington State University alum. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is all about community building and hopes to continue doing community work throughout her future!

Jamera Jones

AmeriCorps Maker VISTA Member

Brandon is a helluva engineer from Georgia Tech with a degree in Polymer & Fiber Engineering and a career in logistics and industrial automation with additional experience in early childhood education. He enjoys getting kids excited about science. In his free time he likes hiking with his dog, Akela, and riding his motorcycle.

Brandon Lewis

Maker Mentor

 
Nadia is a self proclaimed nerd that has made a career out of solving the mysteries of childhood. Teaching, administration, curriculum development and facilitation are among her strengths. The ability to connect with and honor the individuality in every child she interacts with is her favorite part of what she does. The bulk of her work has been in non traditional/ alternative school settings.  Her long term goals include: Bottling the magic energy made only by children, finding a hidden artifact and being kind more often than not. Her moto is that elbow grease and calculated risks are what makes the world go round & Innovation and expertise are only possible through trial and error.  On a personal note, Nadia's hero is Jimmy Carter and she is an origami enthusiast . Her natural talent is embarrassing her son in most situations without even trying. 

Nadia Liggett

Maker Mentor

Lincoln McMeen

Maker Mentor

Mike Mooney is an industrial engineer turned professional maker, and a Maker Mentor on the STE(A)M Truck. He loves process, documentation, and iterative design, and hopes to share the knowledge of good engineering to a new generation of young builders and tinkerers through his work with Community Guilds. When not working with the mobile maker space, he co-owns and operates a makerspace/rapid prototyping facility for adults called MASS Collective, where free time is spent trying to “Learn ALL the Things.”

Mike Mooney

Maker Mentor

Jen Morrison is an Artist in Residence with STE(A)M Truck.

JEN MoRRISON

Artist in Residence

 
Ukejeh (U.K.) is a Mechanical Engineering Student at Georgia Tech. Through an outreach program at Tech he got his first experience working with Kids in STEM and absolutely loved it. He has learned how to operate several different machines through the coursework he has done, and is excited to help bring to life the ideas you and your kids have. 

Ukejeh "U.K." Musa

Maker Mentor

Nate is a second year student at Georgia Tech. He had many opportunities in school to engage in engineering and technology. He’s thankful for those experiences and that they got him to where he is now. Knowing that not everyone is afforded those same opportunities, he’s eager to share what he’s learning with others. He is a biomedical engineering student with experience running machine shops and believes that he can inspire young students to get as excited about making and engineering as he is.

NATE PAte

Maker Mentor

Kris Pilcher, a professional artist and scenic designer, is an Artist In Residence for Community Guilds. His work, which focuses on community engagement and social change, has appeared in exhibitions and galleries throughout Atlanta and beyond. What most excites him about STE(A)M Truck is “helping children explore their creative potential while working with cool technology, all while making the world a better place.”

KRIS PILCHER

Artist in Residence

Weatherly is a self-taught artist that plays in lots of mediums from paint to fabric to sculpture to miming! Ok, not miming. She loves STE(A)M Truck for combining creative design thinking into traditionally STEM projects, putting the A(rt) in STE(A)M Truck!  Prior to working with STE(A)M Truck, Weatherly worked as an innovation consultant, and as an ESL teacher in South Korea.  In her spare time, Weatherly is busy trying ALL THE THINGS, from installation sculptures to movie making to studying languages, and she loves picking up new hobbies. See a redhead practicing Korean and learning taxidermy? That's probably her. 
 
Sadly, Ms. Paloma was born a Muggle so she was not accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She is, however, a graduate with a B.S. in Bio-Medical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She especially loves to study the body’s response to injury and foreign objects. She enjoys the color blue, playing violin, Indian food, and sleeping past 1 pm. Outside of school, she has tutored children from K-12 grade in every subject and college freshmen in Chemistry and Excel.

PALOMA SANCHEZ

Maker Mentor

Sculptor Mike Stasny is an Artist In Residence. “I teach kids to get weird,” says Mike, which is perfect since his profession also calls upon him to be weird.  “I learn as much from the students, if not more, as they learn from me because they solve problems in ways I never would have thought of,” says Mike. “My goal: keep them fearless by making room for exploration and failure.” Mike professes not to have free time, an upshot when one makes “fooling around” his profession . “I play the same as I work, so I guess sleeping is my free time activity!” 

Mike Stasny

Artist in Residence

BETH STEMEN

Maker Mentor

Matthew is a senior Mechanical Engineering Major at Georgia Southern University.   He is interested in manufacturing, mechanical processes, and coding, and is an amateur photographer.

MaTTHEW TANNER

Maker Mentor

 
Kellie Vinal, Ph.D. is a Scientist in Residence for STE(A)M Truck, as well as a science communicator, writer, educator, producer, collaborator, and adventure enthusiast.  She's passionate about inspiring curiosity and wonder about science, especially in those that think science "isn't for them." She strives to be the mentor she wishes she had at a young age, and absolutely loves teaching science (and building confidence and inquisitiveness) through hands-on experiments and interdisciplinary approaches. She's wildly interested in the intersection of science, art, and humanity, and enthusiastically explores those spaces through collaborative art, podcasts/video, storytelling, and experimental events. In 2016, she organized "Sci-Cycle: A competitive scavenger hunt on two wheels" as part of the Atlanta Science Festival, in which contestants learned about aspects of sustainability while biking around town.

KELLIE VINAL

Scientist in Residence

It’s been a long and winding road from a B.A. in International Relations and with a minor in sculpture from Connecticut College to Tinkerer in Residence with STE(A)M Truck for Andy.  He’s held various careers developing interactive training programs for the military, government, and working as a project manager and corporate trainer. Other than the inclusion of some light “Hazardous Material” the common thread between all his careers have been applying his love of learning and teaching.   “There is nothing more exciting that putting a skill or concept to use troubleshooting an issue or passing that knowledge on to someone else.” Andy feels that he gravitates to working with children "Because I’m just a big kid at heart.” He enjoys rousing conversations about sci-fi, superheroes, comic books, LEGO and can’t believe we live in a time when Batroc the Leaper shared screen time with Captain America.  His pride and joy are his children. Watching them “train to be Amazons” fills him with immense pride.  Now more than ever, he feels it’s a good time to be a geek.

ANDY ZAMON

Tinkerer in Residence

 

For more information about any of our programs or about sponsorship opportunities, email us at info@steamtruck.org

Community Guilds  c/o Center of Civic Innovation, Third Floor, 115 M.L.K. Jr Dr SW, Atlanta, GA 30303

call us: 478.239.6523
email us: info@steamtruck.org