While Longfellow Middle School is usually quiet on the weekends, it was anything but calm last Saturday. Approximately 150 people of all ages crowded into the school’s auditorium with a lamp, jeans or even a food processor — they hoped that when they walked out of the Fix-It-Fest, something would get their items working again.
Fix-It Fest, an event that has occurred five times in the past two years, pairs “repair coaches” with Berkeley citizens to fix broken items and teach them about repair processes.
“What I really like about this event and its connection to environmental action is that it’s very solutions-oriented and it’s a concrete thing that you can do and take part in,” said climate literacy teacher Ellen McClure, who is currently based at the Berkeley Unified School District. “In our climate literacy initiative, we really like to be solutions-oriented, and part of what you’re committed to as a district is teaching students solutions.”
At the event, there were stations for electronics, sewing, jewelry, bikes and appliance repair, as well as interactive stations such as making tote bags out of T-shirts, activities about proper waste disposal and a pocket-making workshop.
Debbie Lenz, Berkeley Unified School District teacher and Fix-It Fest event coordinator, said one of the event’s goals was to involve participants in repairs so that they can replicate the process at home later or attend other Fix-It Fest events. Berkeley middle school students had classes leading up to the event on both repairing objects and their environmental impact.
The event was a collaboration between the school district, Nimble Repair, Transition Berkeley and Culture of Repair.
People working on repairs came from a variety of organizations, including designated repair groups, California Climate Action and one of Berkeley High School’s robotics teams.
“This new generation in repair is incredibly important because, ultimately, they will be the ones leading the repair movement very soon,” said Berkeley High Student and Berkelium robotics team member Hazel Lutzker. “I think it’s such a great opportunity that our team was lucky enough to have been invited here and to participate here, and we’re looking forward to the collaborations that we can do in the future.”
Several UC Berkeley students contributed to sewing, both in facilitating activities and repairing objects.
The UC Berkeley students who volunteered at the event took an introductory sewing class from non-profit organization Sage & Needles and the Student Environmental Resource Center, which taught them the basics of sewing and introduced them to Berkeley residents through the Fix-It Fest.
“After the students participated in the workshop, they were required to volunteer at the Fix-It Fest, so (they use) skills that they learn in the workshops,” said founder of Sage & Needles Shiree Dyson. “They come here, and they volunteer their services to work with Berkeley residents.”