CO.LAB: Minneapolis

Red Hat CO.LAB introduced students from Franklin Middle School to building paper circuitry with copper tape and LilyPad Arduino microcontrollers—small, flexible microcontroller boards that can be easily mounted to paper. The girls take a story, written by Lauren Sabel, a young adult author, and bring it to life by adding special effects—including lights, sounds, motion, and art—while learning the basics of electronic circuitry, collaboration, and open source.

Franklin Middle School is home to the Futuregirls program, created by teacher Michael Bratsch. The program gives students support in academic learning and professional and socio-emotional growth, inspiring success and creating additional learning opportunities.