Paula Mitchell

Paula Mitchell has incorporated hands on learning from the beginning of her 25+ year career as an educator in Oakland, CA. Paula believes in fostering equity and providing access to high quality educational STEAM programs to historically underserved and underrepresented populations through a focus on culturally responsive making and authentic inclusion for students with disabilities. She is a Teacher on Special Assignment for Maker-Centered Learning at Grass Valley Elementary School. As part of her work, Paula developed her school's very first maker education/project-based learning program and its makerspace, the Wonder Workshop.
Paula is also the Fellowship Director for Agency by Design Oakland, which works at the intersection of teacher leadership, inquiry-based professional development, and maker-centered learning, in service of student agency. In addition, Paula facilitates workshops for educators and presents at conferences and seminars, on the topics of culturally responsive making and authentic inclusion in maker-centered learning and creating sustainable makerspaces.