You don’t have to be an adult to be a Gangplanker. Gangplank Junior exists to allow students to learn and explore with the freedom to fail. The program  includes activities for  preschool through 20 year olds. We take education back to its roots, encouraging real world, hands on learning with experienced professionals. Gangplank Jr encourages children to use their imaginations to problem solve, create solutions and implement them, without the pressure of performance.

Parents- Gangplank Junior is a “stay and learn with your kids” event. Plan on being with us for the whole session.

Upcoming events:

Exploring Gravity with LEGO Cars

Cars are built and designed to serve the needs of our society, the move our world.  They might move people like busses, move our things like trucks, help firemen fight fires or help doctors save people. Some are designed to go fast, others drive far and some need to do a little of everything. In this exciting course, we’ll become car designers ourselves, building LEGO®   cars for weekly challenges and go head-to-head in competitive events. How many ways can you use LEGO® wheels and tires?  We’ll find out when we “Observe How We Move”. This free event is open to the community.This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades K-6.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

When: 1/26/13

Time: 12:30 – 2:30 pm

Build My City with LEGO

This class is for the super LEGO builder in your household.  This class is for children with previous experience with LEGO who want to learn how to use LEGO to make awesome buildings and structures like they see in the real world.  Children will be introduced to architectural design ideas and presented with challenges to mimic great architecture with LEGO.  They will be taught new ways to use the LEGO brick, and will be challenged to work in teams in many class projects. This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades K-6.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

Date: 1/26/13

Time: 3-5 pm

Building Robots with LEGO Part 1

The LEGO Mindstorms system gives children the tools and software to build, from scratch, their very own robots. Under the instruction of our trained instructors children will be introduced to problem solving with robots, including building and programming their own LEGO robots. This class will open your children’s eyes to the possibilities technology has to continue to improve our world, and they will be challenged to explore these possibilities as they are presented with team challenges to solve with robotics. This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades 3-8th.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

When: 2/2/13

Time: 11am – 1pm

Intro to Movie Making Part 1

Reel Stars: A film based class, for students age eight through thirteen, where students will learn basic film principals both behind and in-front of the camera. Students learn creativity, teamwork, communication and develop new critical ways of thinking. Students learn basic script writing, cinematography, acting and the art and history of story telling. This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades 3-8th.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

When: 2/2/13

Time: 2-4pm

Building Robots with LEGO Part 2

The LEGO Mindstorms system gives children the tools and software to build, from scratch, their very own robots. Under the instruction of our trained instructors children will be introduced to problem solving with robots, including building and programming their own LEGO robots. This is the second part of a 2 part series. This class will open your children’s eyes to the possibilities technology has to continue to improve our world, and they will be challenged to explore these possibilities as they are presented with team challenges to solve with robotics. This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades 3-8th.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

When: 2/16/13

Time: 11am – 1pm

Intro to Movie Making Part 2

Intro to Movie Making Part 2 is the second part of a two part series of videography classes for kids. This film based class is for students age eight through thirteen, where students will learn basic film principals both behind and in-front of the camera. Students learn creativity, teamwork, communication and develop new critical ways of thinking. Students learn basic script writing, cinematography, acting and the art and history of story telling. This free event is open to the community. Activities are appropriate for grades 3-8th.

Where: Gangplank Avondale

When: 2/16/13

Time: 2-4pm

Guest post by Katie Hurst, Gangplank HQ Operations Director

I feel in love with Gangplank Avondale when I first saw the building. Hidden spaces under the stairs, a real bank vault…what’s not to love? The possibilities for creating a fun, open work environment were endless.

But it wasn’t until I returned nearly five months after the opening that I saw those opportunities being realized.

Last week, I decided to tag along with Gangplank Chandler Anchor Customer Systems, Inc., as they visited our west-side cousins for a few days. So we trekked our stuff (and some new IKEA desks!) the 42 miles from Downtown Chandler and set-up shop on the bottom floor of GPA. The drive isn’t that bad when you’ve got a driving buddy, by the way (Thanks Ed & Tim!).

There were so many things that blew me away about the West Valley. To begin, let’s talk about the food. You wouldn’t know it from the highway, but Avondale is home to a ton of great local restaurants, tucked away in the corners of strip malls. We enjoyed bento boxes at Goodyear’s Tomo Japanese Cuisine & Sushi and chicken shawarma at the Pita Kitchen. On Friday, the brownbag speaker was from local hot spot Caballero Grill and graciously provided amazing pork sandwiches for attendees. Of course, no trip to Gangplank Avondale would complete without a happy hour run to the Sonic next door for half priced slushies (Cherry Limeade ftw).

Even better than the food variety is the diverse array of projects happening in the West Valley. On Thursday night, GPAvondale hosted its first ‘After Hours’ event, inviting the community to hang out and work from 6:00-10:00pm. Around 25 people showed up to share what they were working on and collaborate. One group included Eric Torres and his game, Iconica: The World of Rynaga. From their website – “Set in the fictional World of Rynaga, Iconica blends turn-based strategy with a twist of chance for a unique card game experience that’s easy to learn, but a challenge to master.” The group hopes to meet monthly at GPAvondale to play Iconica and other RPGs, as well as work out any kinks. Other projects included an traffic stoplight Arduino project, a web series discussion and building a display case for a local invention.

The best part about GPAvondale? The people. Gangplank locations attract good people who want to engage with their local community and each other. I had a lot of fun (and laughs) talking with people about their projects, what ideas they have for Gangplank and things they’d like to learn more about. Of course, any group of folks that can put up with my constant running around and random dancing must be a pretty accepting bunch =)

Check out their next brownbag this Friday, ‘Storyrise: Stories of the Journey‘ at noon.

By Lanni Solochek, Gangplank Volunteer Reporter

One of Gangplank’s fundamental goals is to help advance the local community. When participants recognize what Gangplank is doing and step up to help, a little bit of Gangplank magic sparks.

Lawrence Neal, a Gangplank Avondale Anchor, is a strong believer of the “Gangplank Manifesto” and one of those individuals sparking the magic. Lawrence is an IT programer who has been around the Gangplank world for quite a while. Lawrence  always around the Chandler location to offer help and utilize the open workspace environment. In March, when GPAvondale launched, Lawrence saw his chance to really commit to helping an ideal that he is so invested in. Lawrence devoted himself to the new location to help make it the welcoming and creative workspace Gangplank prides itself on.

His first project involved setting up the internet wiring for the entire two-story building. Lawrence helped to install both a WiFi network for anyone who wanted to drop in and use the public workspace and a Cat5e network system to allow a private, strong connection for the Anchor businesses. Lawrence also lent a big hand in fixing and programming some of the complex computer hardware. His generosity and hard work during the start up days of GP Avondale is greatly appreciated by Anchors and drop-ins alike.

Along with his help with the infrastructure, Lawrence has continued to volunteer and work with Gangplank Avondale to keep the community advancing. He is a mentor and consultant for all who need technical advice and has a world of expertise to offer. He also expanded on the brownbag series, building a boot-camp style curriculum to inform hopeful entrepreneurs about how to kick off their ideas and launch themselves in business ownership.

Lawrence believes that the greatest value of Gangplank lies in the the opportunities presented to the community through collaboration. The response from the public is incredibly positive and helping the small business community grow in a generally big-business area.

Look for Lawrence hanging around on the second floor playing with his gadgets!

– Lanni is a freelance writer and journalism student with a passion for technology. She contributes to the local tech community through her involvement with multiple blogs and Gangplank initiatives.