About me

Hi! I am Deborah Orlik. I am the Director of STEAM Integration and the manager of the Guerin Institute lab at Milken Community Schools in Los Angeles, California.

My background

I was born to be a lawyer so I went to UC Berkeley and Hastings College of Law and then I practiced law. I didn’t enjoy the practice of law as much as I liked teaching it so, for many years I taught in law schools and paralegal programs, as well. During that parttime work, I discovered that my true calling was teaching, so I went back to school so I could teach children. (By the time they get to law school, it’s too late to teach them anything.) :)

In my teaching program, I discovered middle school students. I love them! And most teachers shiver when they hear the words “middle school” so there were many jobs open for that age group. My first full-time middle school teaching job was in Maui – Hawaii’s most beautiful island. Tough job, right? I could not have been happier! Life brought me back to California and then back to Hawaii and now I’m in Los Angeles again. Along the way I learned many things about young people and how I love to teach them. I also learned that they are sorely lacking in the the ability to imagine and build, as well as think in 3D. In August 2018, I started working in this beautiful fablab. Now I get paid to teach, build, play and imagine. I have the best job in the world at Milken!

Previous Education

I was born into a family of “makers”. My parents made everything from growing our own food to sewing our own clothes to making our own toys and machinery. It’s not that we had to; we just wanted to. Growing up “on the farm”, as we called it, was a beautiful beginning. My brothers and I had opportunities I don’t think many children have anymore. We spilled out the back door after breakfast and our parents didn’t worry if they didn’t see us all day. We were playing, building, exploring, learning outdoors.

I was always interested in engineering. I just didn’t know what it was called. If I could go back in time to college and someone said to me “You like to make stuff? You should try an engineering class…” maybe I wouldn’t have spent all of that time studying political science. ​

The Beginning of the Light

In 2010, I was asked to lead some students in the Future City Competition. This is where I started to put it all together – how we can introduce children to engineering (making stuff) and sustainability (in my 7th and 8th grade Science classroom) – ways that they can help heal our Earth so that their children have a better world to live in. Best part about Future City? It starts with a video game! (#getouttahere):

Here’s a link from my website IDEA Lab Learning where you can learn about the Future City Competition: https://www.idealablearning.com/#/futurecity/

This is where I work

What I want to do with this information

With my education from this course, I want to make curriculum for our students that will help them help others. If we know even a little bit about electricity and machines for example, we can help others with our simple inventions. If we know even a little about making, we can make toys that will improve the lives of children. We all learn through play. Probably the most important thing we learn is how to imagine. So many children do not have this opportunity and we can help them. Here at Milken, we spend a great deal of time talking about making the lives of others better. I’d like to give our students the ability to do that through teaching elementary engineering concepts, design thinking, and making.

We have funds, wonderful students, a terrific faculty here and we’re just a few miles from UCLA. We have everything we need to build anything we need to make the lives of other people better. I want to make that happen.