About Me

 

TODAY

I’m Mess Wright, and I conceive, plan, and execute Science and Tech learning programs for school-aged kids. My latest endeavor is the opening of a Fab Lab in Dallas, Texas called “WorkChops.” We say it’s a “Makerspace for Problem Solvers and Lifelong Learners.”

 

 

HOW I ENDED UP HERE

I was an uninspired student when I was younger. I looked at school as a necessary thing – something to be endured. I made good grades, but I spent every minute with a book about something else tucked into the book I was supposed to be studying. I ignored all but a few very inspiring teachers and mentors. The good news is, I’ve easily read thousands of books. The bad news for my own life was that I could not reconcile my contempt for formal education with my own love of learning new things. I had an okay corporate career throughout my twenties, too, but I felt for that a similar sentiment to the one I’d had for my educational career. I was just surviving it.

In 2010, I opened a STEM focused party place (“The Lab”) because I was personally tired of dragging my own young kids to pizza places and arcades every weekend. I aimed to have a space where kids could do smart, hands-on Chemistry/Biology/Physics activities, learn new things, and never feel out of place. I wanted programs that welcomed the curious kids and celebrated their quirks while nurturing their sense of curiosity and self-confidence. In mid 2016, I added power tools and digital devices to my program offering, as I began to believe the people who would drive the future would be those most comfortable with technology and the maker movement.

To date, I’ve led about 140 camps, a few hundred school, church and community events and classes, and over 1,000 fun STEM birthday parties. I did all this to further children’s interest in science and exploration of things unknown, and I have been able to learn and grow alongside them myself.