May 18, 2026 · Piedmont Makers
Nearly 1,000 people came out for our 12th annual Piedmont School Maker Faire, where kids and grown-ups across the East Bay built, raced, and exhibited a full year of making.
On May 17, the Piedmont High School campus turned into a daylong STEAM carnival for the 12th annual Piedmont School Maker Faire. Nearly 1,000 people came through to build things, race things, and see what makers of every age had been up to all year.
What makes our School Maker Faire special is that the maker spirit goes both directions: adults run hands-on projects for kids, and kids get to exhibit what they've built to adults. Add in great weather and almost 1,000 attendees and we get one of the best days on our Piedmont Makers calendar. Our maker community came out in force and you could feel it.
The backbone of the day is the build-it-yourself stations, and the perennial favorites drew steady crowds. At the Nerdy Derby, kids engineered little vehicles to survive a ramp as tall as the amphitheater. At the Maker River, they shaped vessels from cork, rubber, and wood, then floated them down a handmade aqueduct. The Air Rockets station had paper rockets launching over the amphitheater toward the gym, and a giant LEGO table ran nonstop from open to close.
There was plenty more to get your hands into: a mini golf course, a rustic apple press turning Humboldt County apples into fresh juice, jewelry and bracelet making, and a student-run sticker booth improvised from wax paper and packing tape.
Some of the busiest booths were run by students, which is the part we love most. Chloe Hong, a Piedmont High sophomore, sold crocheted animals scented to help with calm and sleep; she puts her proceeds toward children’s mental health and donated $1,000 to the Wellness Center. A group of 25 kids had collectively built a gloriously chaotic video game that visitors could sit down and play. Another student hosted a communal painting canvas and showed off her own clothing designs.
The robotics teams turned the Faire into an open house. Highlander Robotics (Team 8033), our high schoolers who compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition world championships, brought two robots: the 2024 robot Banshee out on the Fabrication Laboratory patio, and this year’s robot, Wisp, on the bench inside for inspection and a Q&A with team members. They also ran the Fab Lab’s laser cutter, turning digital designs into wooden keepsakes on the spot. The FTC team Error 404 (Team 16278) handed visitors the controls and let them drive.
Across the program, makers showed off projects that ran from the ambitious to the delightfully odd: an ionic jet engine, a smart buoy, experiments with tea, toys modified for kids with special needs, and bikes that students designed themselves. Piedmont Makers now reaches more than 900 students a year, up from about 400 in 2023, spanning LEGO League Explore for the youngest builders all the way up to high-school FRC.
Partners from around the East Bay set up alongside the students. Payam Music, an East Bay piano program, sat first-timers down at a keyboard and started them on a beginner-friendly notation before traditional sheet music. Nearby, a maker demonstrated Japanese joinery, the kind that holds together with no screws or bolts, more like a wooden puzzle.
Piedmont became the first school district in the country to host an official K-12 School Maker Faire back in 2014, the same year Dave Ragones and Vince Monical co-founded Piedmont Makers. Twelve years later, the Faire has grown into one of the high points of our year.
As with all of Piedmont Makers' programs, we couldn't do it without hundreds of volunteer hours. A huge thank you to board members Ella Grossberg and Brian Van Osdol for their leadership, and to the dozens of volunteers who made this day possible.
We’ll be back next May. To hear when (and how to exhibit or volunteer), the newsletter is the best place to start, and you can always learn more on the School Maker Faire page.