Encouraging Kids
SLIPPERY ROCK — After several clicks on his computer, Center Township Elementary School student Bryan Kenyon was ready to test his bee.
He inserted the chip into its slot and attached his yellow-winged, orange-footed, Styrofoam bee. At the push of the start switch, his bee lit up and waddled left and right.
“I did it,” said Bryan, 7, who excitedly mimicked the bee's movement in his seat.
Bryan was one of six students in last week's Arts and Bots class at the Kid's Innovation Playground.
Retired Moniteau School District teacher Lorraine Shaffer opened the nonprofit 501(c) 3 organization at 558 Centreville Pike in February.
KIPS is devoted to bridging the educational gap in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, or STEAM, experiences for children in pre-kindergarten to eighth grade in rural Western Pennsylvania.
School comes easy to Bryan, who can complete his assignments with ease, said his mother, Butler resident Megan Kenyon.
“It allows him to expand his mind,” Kenyon said. “Something like this is an outlet.”
First Baptist Christian School student Sydni Rodgers worked to figure out why the light on her bee did not come on. The 11-year-old said she learned she should have used a different type of light.
Sydni's mother, Kellie Rodgers of Butler, enjoys the convenient session times and the cost, she said.
In the Builders Room, 15 pounds of Legos, a Lego- and-magnet wall with a marble run, gears and magniformers and magnitiles are ready for play.
“We invested in as many things we thought kids would like,” Shaffer said about the products that came everywhere from Amazon to garage sales.
In the Makers Room, Shaffer leads classes as they experiment with different technologies.
“I don't like that in school we're saying there's only one kind of kid and you have to get a certain score on the test,” Shaffer said. “They're not realizing that you use failure all the time to drive success.”
Students' preconceived notions about coding led them to believe they could only make video games and participate in robot clubs and have robot battles in high school, she said.
“Everything's coded — your washing machine, your car,” she said.As a computer teacher, Shaffer attended conferences and realized her school district and other rural school districts did not have what Pittsburgh schools had, she said.After teaching for 22 years, Shaffer decided to retire at 55 and spend the next 10 years bringing opportunities to the rural communities in northern Butler County.Shaffer's husband sold his 2015 Dodge Challenger for $15,000 to start the business, she said. Now, she is about $22,000 in the hole as she worked to buy everything herself.Classes cost $10, but Shaffer said her goal is to offer them for free now that she has a 501(c) 3 status and can apply for grants.“I didn't do this for the riches,” she said. “I did this for every kid.”In the present age of testing, students need encouragement, she said.“I think the testing situation has kind of gotten out of hand, and I think kids are being told they're not good students,” Shaffer said. “We just need to open it back up so that every kid can feel like they can succeed.”Shaffer teaches a growth mind-set at Kid's Innovation Playground,“You're not going to get something right the first time,” she said. “Everything you do wrong is going to help you ... every kid needs to have a chance to do what they like to do.”The building is only the beginning of her vision.Shaffer said she hopes to partner with school districts that don't offer after-school activities, apply for grants now and increase the size of the facility to make it a place students can use to complete their schoolwork.“There's a whole population of kids that this is their life and they need a place after school and the weekends they can come to,” she said. “It might take you 20 times to get it right, but that's what you do in life.”
Here are several summer camps at Kid's Innovation Playground, 558 Centreville Pike, Slippery Rock.Class size is limited to 10 children per camp.Visit kidsinnovationplayground.com or facebook.com/kidsinnovationplayground, email kidsinnovationplayground@gmail.com or call 724-372-2227 for more information.Camps for students who have completed first through fourth grade:Bubble Bonanza: 9 a.m. to noon, June 11, 12 and 13Go Green: 9 a.m. to noon, July 9, 10 and 11The Sky's the Limit: 9 a.m. to noon, July 23, 24 and 25Camps for students who have completed fifth through seventh grade:Go Fish: 9 a.m. to noon, June 18, 19 and 20Food for Thought: 9 a.m. to noon, July 16, 17 and 18Put a Lid on It: 9 a.m. to noon, Aug. 6, 7 and 8
