Professional development and thermocolour t-shirt printing at The Edge

Isaac Pay participated in the Fun Palace 2018 Professional Development event at State Library of Queensland (State Library) from 3 – 7 October 2018. 

Professional Development and thermocolour t-shirt printing at The Edge by Isaac Pay – Logan City Council 

Being able to run a program at Fun Palace 2018 was a great experience that I have learnt valuable skills which I can bring back and implement within our library programs.  Throughout the week long professional development I was able to meet with the Young People and Families team and the Inclusive Communities team.  Through the meetings I had with these teams I was able to discuss not only what their role within State Library was but also get their opinions and ideas that I could take back to use within my library service.

Leading up to the program I was able to not only learn how to make and deliver my activity, but I also received training with creating and evaluating the program on the State Library Wiki Page.  On the Thursday, myself and the other PD participants were able to test each other’s activities and make suggestions or improvements to ensure the smooth running on the Saturday.

For the event I was fortunate to run the thermocolour t-shirt printing activity with around 50 children across the Saturday afternoon.  The reactions that the kids had seeingtheir own design being printed onto their t-shirt was great.  Whilst some of the children were too young and didn’t understand the science behind the thermocolour pigment and how it changed colour, they were still just as amazed finding out that when their t-shirt heated up it would change from black to pink!

Overall, attending the Fun Palace 2018 PD was a great experience providing many valuable skills which I can implement into library programs. The staff at State Library and The Edge were extremely accommodating and willing to teach and show us anything that we asked about.  From here I now feel more confident and have more ideas about developing and running STEAM programs to my clients.

About the author

Isaac Pay is Young People's Liaison Officer at Logan City Council.