We are excited to empower our members in developing their Young Makers. Young Makers are the future of the maker movement.

Background

In 2023, the Operations Committee discontinued youth memberships due to safety and liability concerns. On Feb 8th, 2021 the NL board clarified issuance of door access fobs which is implicit, but not detailed, in currently published Minor Policy. The Minor Policy takes precedence over any statements on this page. This page only clarifies the workflow and processes associated with the minor policy. All safety processes, including GO and sign-off requirements are enforced.

READ Minor Policy Here

The parent of the minor must be a member

IMPORTANT: Parents must WANT to use the makerspace and be members prior to enrolling their minor. Nova Labs does NOT have youth memberships so do not use this program with the intent that your child will be a member. This is a bad idea and leads to confusion and poor results. This program only works if you are a maker and want to get involved WITH the minor.

Minors cannot be members. However, we are trying to allow our members to foster making. So, unlike a Guest, the Minor Child of a Member is allowed to use the makerspace and tools while under supervision of a signed-off parent. No exceptions.

Nova Labs does not offer any special classes or programs as part of this program. Any instance of the minor being at Nova Labs without the parent is against policy established by the Operations Committee and the Board. This is a safety issue, puts the minor and labs at risk, and is grounds for immediate removal of permissions to use the tools as an enrolled Minor Child of Member.

Enrollment Steps

1. Read the Minor Policy carefully.
2. Contact [email protected] to get the link to apply for a minor account. This will establish an account and start the process. We use this account to document GO class and other sign-offs so the stewards and other can see they have the training. This means, they will not need to redo these sign-offs later.
3. See the section below to see how to register your minor for GO class once they have an approved account.
4. The supervising parent is a member so has agreed to the Member Participation and Liability Waiver on behalf of their minor. We will verify this on the parent’s account at the time of MCoM application.
5. If the legal guardian will not be the person supervising, the Parental Supervision Designation Waiver must be signed and sent to [email protected] after the application MCoM account has been created and before the first use of the makerspace. The form will be kept on file in the minor’s account.

Additional Workflow Information

• Door Access Fobs for Minors
  • Minors do not get keys to the doors of the building. With the following exceptions:
  • Youth Interns, 14+ who are officially in the youth intern program upon request of the program lead. Only supervised access by the vetted adult program lead is allowed.
  • Youth Robotics age 14+ are issued a key to the door upon request of the program lead. Must be paid up for the full season. The key is disabled at the end of the season. NP can be enabled for Laser Cutter only. Only supervised access by the vetted adult program lead is allowed.
  • Youth 16 years and older with Yellow NP tool sign offs (i.e., Laser Cutter) can be issued fobs so they can use Yellow tools independently.
• NP Tool Access Fobs
  • A fob will be issued at the time of sign-off on a NP tool only. This will be done only if Independent tool use is allowed by the Minor Policy.

Signing your MCoM up for classes

It is imperative that the sign-off class appear on your MINORS account, NOT your account!!

Login to the child’s account to sign up for sign-off classes. For Project or non-sign-off classes, add the child as your guest on the event.