Terms of Use

Effective October 10, 2026

1. Agreeing to these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Maker Mindz, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in North Carolina (EIN 93-3457324). They cover apps.makermindz.org (the "Apps"), including the STEM Explorer, Live Sessions, the host application and the host portal. By using the Apps you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy.

Our main website, makermindz.org, has its own terms and conditions for purchases, donations and in-person programs. For the Apps, these terms apply if the two differ.

If you are under 18, please read these terms with a parent, guardian or teacher. They agree to these terms for you.

2. Who can use the Apps

• Free apps: anyone can use them. Students under 13 should use them with a parent's or teacher's knowledge.
• School accounts: schools and their students and staff.
• Individual and member accounts: adults 18 or older only (parents, guardians, teachers and adult learners).
• Host accounts: students who meet the rules in section 7.

3. Accounts

• Give accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your password private. You are responsible for what happens in your account.
• Schools: share your school password only with your own students and staff, supervise students' use, and follow your school's policies, including any parent notice or consent your policies require for online sessions and recordings. Tell us at once if the password is shared outside your school, and we will change it.
• Tell us at info@makermindz.org if you think someone else used your account.

4. Free learning content

Our simulations, games, eBooks, workshops, trivia, riddles and videos are made by Maker Mindz students and volunteers for learning. Some need a school or donor account. You may use them for personal and classroom education, and you may share links to them. We work hard to keep them accurate, but they may contain mistakes and are not professional, medical, legal or safety advice. Please tell us about mistakes with "Report an issue". Hands-on activities should be done with adult supervision and the right safety gear.

5. Live Sessions

• Who teaches: sessions are hosted by high school students (volunteers) and undergraduate students (paid interns). They are not certified teachers or licensed tutors. Sessions add to, and do not replace, school instruction.
• Signing up: sign-ups close 48 hours before a session starts, so the host has time to prepare. Sessions can fill up.
• Joining: join only from the Apps. The call opens 10 minutes before the start. Use your real first name or class name.
• Recording: every session is recorded and transcribed, reviewed by AI and by Maker Mindz staff, and deleted after one year, as explained in the Privacy Policy. By joining, you agree to this, and if you sign up others (such as a class), you confirm you have the authority to agree for them.
• Cancelling: please cancel in My sessions if you cannot attend, ideally at least 24 hours ahead, so others can take the seat.
• Changes by us: hosts or Maker Mindz may cancel or change a session. We will email you if that happens. We may remove anyone from a call to keep it safe.
• Safety concerns: report anything that makes you uncomfortable to info@makermindz.org or with "Report an issue". We take every report seriously and may contact the school, a parent or the authorities when needed.

6. Passes and payments

• Schools and Maker Mindz donor accounts may get Live Sessions access for free. Others can buy a pass. The price and how long it lasts are shown before you pay. Prices are in US dollars and may change, but a change never affects a pass you already bought.
• Payments are processed by Stripe under Stripe's terms. A pass is a one-time payment and does not renew on its own.
• Refunds: you can get a full refund within 7 days of buying a pass if you have not attended a session with it. If Maker Mindz stops offering Live Sessions while your pass is active, we will refund the unused part. Email info@makermindz.org to ask.
• A pass is a purchase of services, so it is generally not a tax-deductible donation. Please ask your tax adviser.
• Passes are for the account holder's household and cannot be resold.

7. Student hosts

If you apply to host or host sessions, these rules also apply to you.

Who can host

• High school volunteers: at least 13 years old, enrolled in high school, with a parent or guardian's consent if under 18, two references we can check, and the yearly safety training.
• Undergraduate interns: at least 18, enrolled in a college or university, legally allowed to work in the United States, a clear background check through Checkr, and the yearly safety training.
• Training, consent, references and background checks must be renewed every year. Your sessions are hidden while anything is expired.
• Your host profile becomes inactive after June 30 of the graduation year you gave us, and your future sessions are cancelled.
• Maker Mindz decides who may host and may approve, pause or end any host or session at any time.

How you must host

• Follow the host code of conduct and safety training at all times.
• Teach what you described and stay for the whole scheduled time.
• Keep all contact with students on Maker Mindz. Do not share or ask for phone numbers, social media, home addresses or private meetings.
• Do not meet or call students outside scheduled Maker Mindz sessions, and report any safety concern to Maker Mindz right away.
• Do not record, screenshot or share anything from a session.

Volunteer hours and pay

• High school hosts are unpaid volunteers. We record volunteer hours for completed sessions that pass review and can confirm them for school or award programs.
• Undergraduate interns are paid the hourly rate Maker Mindz sets for them, for the scheduled length of each completed session that had attendees and passed review. Payments are sent through Stripe to the bank account you connect.
• Unless you sign a separate written agreement with Maker Mindz, interns are paid as independent contractors. You are responsible for your own taxes, and you agree to give Stripe the tax information it asks for. If you are paid $600 or more in a year, you may receive a Form 1099.
• Pay or hours may be held while a session is reviewed, and are not owed for a session that did not happen as scheduled or broke these terms.

Your session materials

You keep ownership of your own teaching materials. You let Maker Mindz use your session descriptions on the Apps, and use recordings and materials for safety review, quality and payment checks. We will ask you separately before using anything for promotion.

8. Rules for everyone

Do not:

• harass, bully, threaten or discriminate against anyone,
• share content that is violent, sexual, hateful, illegal or not suitable for students,
• pretend to be someone else or sign in to an account that is not yours,
• try to break, hack, overload or get around the security of the Apps, or copy them with automated tools,
• use the Apps to sell, advertise or collect other people's information.

We may remove content, end calls and suspend accounts that break these rules.

9. Content and ownership

The Apps and their content (text, simulations, games, eBooks, videos, graphics, logos and code) belong to Maker Mindz or the people who licensed them to us. Apart from the learning use in section 4, you may not copy, change, sell or republish them without our written permission. Some videos are hosted on YouTube, and YouTube's terms apply when you watch them there.

If you send us feedback or a problem report, we may use it to improve the Apps without owing you anything.

10. Disclaimers and limits

• The Apps are provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise that they will always work, be error free, or produce particular learning results.
• Some features rely on other services (such as Stripe, Daily.co, Checkr, YouTube and Cloudflare). We are not responsible for those services.
• To the fullest extent the law allows, Maker Mindz and its volunteers, interns, staff and board are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, and our total liability to you is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $50 if you paid nothing.
• If you are an adult, you agree to cover Maker Mindz's reasonable costs from claims caused by your breaking these terms or misusing the Apps.
• Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under law that cannot be limited.

11. Ending access

You can stop using the Apps at any time and ask us to close your account. We may suspend or end access if you break these terms, if needed to keep users safe, or if we stop offering a service. Sections 6 (refunds), 7 (pay already earned), 9, 10 and 12 continue after access ends.

12. Law, changes and contact

• These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina. Any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in North Carolina. Before going to court, please email us so we can try to solve it together.
• We may update these terms. We will change the date at the top, and for important changes we will post a notice on the Apps or email account holders before they take effect. Using the Apps after that means you accept the new terms.
• If one part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies.

Questions? Email info@makermindz.org or use makermindz.org/contact-us.