Each year, hundreds of middle school students from Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities enrich their education with classes they won’t normally attend in a general education setting. Grant Wood Area Education Agency’s College for Kids has provided opportunities to challenge these young learners for decades. This year there are several new classes that teach skills preparing attendees for a wide range of career paths.
Some new longstanding classes such as “Architectural Kitchen Design” instruct students on how to apply math and design principles in a real-world setting. “The goal is to create a spark in students through our enrichment classes.” shares Susie Green, student program specialist at Grant Wood AEA. “We always encourage students to try something totally new. Perhaps that ‘new thing’ will lead students to more inquiry, or perhaps it will lead them to an eventual career.” Applied mathematics, science and computer science skills are also used in other College for Kids courses including “Exploring Biotechnology”, “Math in Nature”, “Engineering Structures”, “Virtual 3-D Creations”, “Math of Monkey Business” and more.
But it’s not only STEM skills taught at College for Kids. Students gain other professional skills including leadership in “Being an Effective Leader”, financial literacy in “Show me the Money!”, public speaking and argumentation in “Mock Trial” and even gain early world foreign language skills in Spanish or Japanese.
One new course, “Engineering Design: Developing a Card Game” is led by Alburnett CSD Talented and Gifted teacher Morgan Schwarting. This course leads students to develop a real, working card game from top to bottom that will eventually be posted on the crowdfunding site, Kickstarter. “Students learn all the ins and outs of producing a finished game, the math and logic involved in game design, AND learn about ways to fund production costs,” adds Green. “I can’t think of a better way for kids to learn a variety of skills that apply to the real world.”
Here are a few questions and answers from Linn-Mar, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids and Clear Creek Amana students who took these exciting classes!
Kaden from Linn-Mar CSD. Architectural Kitchen DesignQ: Why did you take this course? Kaden: Because I was kind of interested in working in architectural design. Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Kaden: A lot of math skills! I’ve learned that there’s a lot of measurements that go into building stuff. |
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Emmet, Hannah & Lydia from Iowa City CSD. Architectural Kitchen DesignQ: Why did you take this course? Emmet: I’m really interested in architecture, especially in the design of houses. Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Hannah: I never knew a refrigerator would cost that much! Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Lydia: I learned about the work triangle and where to put your appliances. |
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Marissa, Adara & Logan from Cedar Rapids CSD. Show Me the MoneyQ: Why did you take this course? Marissa: I took this course because I wanted to learn about money, finances and budgeting. Q: Why did you take this class? Adara: I took this course to learn how to invest my money safely and smartly. Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Logan Clark: I’ve learned how the stock market works. |
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Alison & Benjamin from Iowa City CSD. Show Me the MoneyQ: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Allison: I learned about the stock units, which I didn’t know a whole lot about. Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Benjamin: I learned more about ‘wants’ vs ‘needs’, and I also learned more about stocks. |
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Zachary from Clear Creek Amana CSD. Engineering Design: Develop a Card GameQ: Why did you take this course? Zachary: I wanted to make a game and I figured this would be a good place to start. I made some games in the past. But I learned from the class how to use Kickstarter to help sell copies. Q: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Zachary: I learned how to digitally design cards using Canva and print them. |
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Evan & Olivia from Iowa City CSD. Engineering Design: Develop a Card GameQ: What’s something you’ve learned in this class? Evan: I learned how to brainstorm card games, and turn an idea into something you can really play. It was really fun! Q: Why did you take this course? Olivia: I decided to take it because I really liked what I did last year at College for Kids, and I wanted to try a brand new class. |
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