Christian Chamberlain, known as Mr. C at Helix, has taken an unconventional path to teaching at the Edge Lab. After spending 16 years in retail and earning a degree in game design, Chamberlain found his way into education through youth programs focusing on 3D design, game development, and robotics. Now, as the Edge Lab Facilitator at Helix Charter School, Chamberlain emphasizes promoting student creativity and experimentation. Chamberlain’s passion for hands-on activities—doodling, drawing, developing, or deconstructing objects—reflects the Edge Lab’s mission to provide a safe and exploratory environment where students can freely pursue their creative projects. As it’s not abundantly clear, I decided to ask what being an “Edge Lab Facilitator” entails.
According to Chamberlain, being the Edge Lab Facilitator means “facilitating the maker mentality,” a mindset of hands-on learning and creativity that allows students to make whatever they want to. “Interactions with students,” he continued, “and just seeing what ideas they come in with- I think that is the best thing ever.”
For him, what gets him looking forward to his job each day is being able to help students tackle their creative challenges. That, and the fact that his job lets him “get to play with toys all day.” But, he also loves seeing students come up with their ideas and get into the ‘maker mentality’ themselves.
Curious, I also chose to ask what tools in the edge lab seem to be used the most. In his experience, Chamberlain observed that both 3d printing and button-making were very common occurrences. “I look at button-making as a perfect gateway to the room itself,” he mentioned. According to him, it helped to get students familiar with the concept of cutting, how to lay out images, and how to use some helpful software. If you’re interested in making something, button-making is always a good place to start.
When I asked what could be done to encourage more students to create in the Edge Lab, he told me it’s important that they know that “this is a completely safe space to explore and figure stuff out for yourself– you can learn what you like and what you don’t [here.]” Chamberlain emphasized that there were many aspects of design, and if a student doesn’t enjoy one, they’re always welcome to try something else. Back when he was a kid, Chamberlain recalled, “creative endeavors were frowned upon… and I’ve always felt that was wrong.” He had to redact his name and remain anonymous on some of the creative projects he worked on in high school. Compare that to now, where he’s able to see “the mixture of kids in this space, like wrestlers and basketball players and all that coming in and doing creative things– I think that is such an amazing aspect to cultivate.” 
To keep enhancing students’ creativity, Chamberlain will be hosting ‘maker mornings’ during Friday tutorials. Chamberlain encourages that if anyone doesn’t have anything to do in tutorial, the Edge Lab is open, and every Friday there will be a different workshop. From teaching students Adobe Illustrator to quilt making, there will be a new project every week, open for all students to learn. Chamberlain wants to boost amount students to stop by any Friday they are looking for something to do.
As for his personal goals, Chamberlain will be working towards his teaching credential– which will allow him to continue helping students create on a broader scale. Be sure to stop by the Edge Lab and say hi- he’ll certainly appreciate it.
