Newark's Shabazz H.S. Makerspace Gets Assist from Highlanders

When the staff at Malcolm X Shabazz High School decided to build a makerspace, which is a first for a Newark public school, they turned to New Jersey Institute of Technology for advice and training.

The school's science department chairman, Jackly Nazaire, would like to see engineers, mathematicians, programmers and scientists join the ranks of the school's notable alumni — such as singer Gloria Gaynor, singer Cissy Houston whose daughter was superstar Whitney Houston, former New York mayor Ed Koch and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus.

Nazaire knew he'd need to find help, because not even the city's acclaimed Science Park High School and Technology High School have their own makerspaces. He found the answer just two miles north at NJIT.

"Once I found out [NJIT] has a makerspace, it's just common sense," Nazaire said.

Starting in 2020, "We were looking for a way to support our STEM program at the school, in particular the engineering program and the other sciences — physics, biology — and even our robotics club," the latter independently partnering with NJIT's student robotics club. "The principal came up with the idea and he sold it to me, but the school didn't have the budget. I wrote a grant to the Victoria Foundation," Nazaire explained.

The foundation is based in Newark and focuses on helping minorities to achieve success. They provided $100,000 over two years, enabling Nazaire to obtain a 3D printer and a variety of other sophisticated equipment such as a CNC machine. The school district itself renovated a room and upgraded its electrical, flooring and plumbing infrastructure.

Every high school should have something like this

"Every high school should have something like this … I think hands-on education is very exciting for all age groups and maybe even more so for the high school student," said NJIT makerspace manager Justin Suriano, who served in the role of consultant and lead trainer to Shabazz high school.

"I imagine this space is going to be very engaging for their students. It's really going to excite them and it'll be a nice break in their day from the history classes, the English classes," Suriano added. "I hope everybody says, 'Making stuff is awesome, where else can I do this?' And they say NJIT."

NJIT computer science major Alex Ack, a sophomore from Woodland Park, showed some of the Shabazz teachers and students how to operate a 3D printer. "Some of the students I've seen here, I've seen a lot more passion, there's a drive to learn," he said. "It feels pretty good to be helping out. I feel some of them don't have all of the things that we have [but] a lot of the students I talked to already hope to attend NJIT."

Nazaire indicated a need for a laboratory leader, mentors and virtual reality equipment. He said that NJIT alumni or students who'd like to help may contact him at jnazaire@nps.k12.nj.us.