Buried behind cardboard and tape, Sophia Litos and Sydney Plouffe were building an arcade basketball game an hour before classes started at DeMello Elementary. The two are part of the school’s new Makerspace Club.

“We got inspired because we had no idea what to make, but Sophia loves basketball so we decided to make a basketball game,” Plouffe said.

Across the room, Alexis Sylvain, Grace Gaumont, and Sydney Rebello worked on an arcade game that challenges players to drop a ball through one of about 20 different holes, which will then pass through an intricate maze and – possibly – comes out of a winning hole. Despite facing a balancing issue, the three felt that their project had come out well.

“It was hard to get everything stabilized,” Rebello said. “We had to use another box."

The 25 students in the Makerspace Club have spent the past two Wednesdays working on the arcade-themed projects, said Joshua Rodrigues, the school’s new full-time technology specialist and Makerspace Club instructor. He started the before-school club to give students an outlet to explore science, technology, engineering, and math in a hands-on environment.

“I don’t tell students what to do,” Rodrigues said. “I want them to be creative and come up with their own stuff. It’s totally self-driven.”

Aside from basic guidelines, Rodrigues leaves everything up to his students. Students spent one week sketching prototype arcade games on paper to get a sense of project design before construction.

When the arcade games are finished, Rodrigues plans on setting them up at the school and inviting students to bring in quarters to play the games, with the proceeds donated to a charity.

“What we try to do is make each project purposeful,” Rodrigues said, adding that studies show girls are more engaged with a project when they have a defined goal. This, he hopes, will encourage girls to join the program and become exposed to STEM.

The club’s first task was to design and build model bridges out of basswood. To test their designs, teams weighed down their bridges with Harry Potter books. The winning team’s bridge supported six books.

When Rodrigues opened the club for signups, 45 students applied, but Rodrigues wanted to keep the club small to start out. The remaining students are currently on a waiting list. Rodrigues hopes to offer a second six-week program after the winter break.

Future engineers weren’t the only students going to work before the start of the school day. In the gymnasium, physical education teacher Kathryn Schmich led students in her Fitness Club through rotating stations of jumping jacks, push-ups, and running.

“It provides students with 40 to 45 minutes of exercise,” Schmich said. “Exercise has been proven to stimulate young brains.”

Although the school has hosted similar clubs in the past through grants, the Fitness Club is all new this year, and students already enjoy it, Schmich said.