Each year, hundreds of middle school students from Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities enrich their education with classes they won鈥檛 normally attend in a general education setting. Grant Wood Area Education Agency鈥檚 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 鈥淎rchitectural Kitchen Design鈥� instruct students on how to apply math and design principles in a real-world setting. 鈥淭he goal is to create a spark in students through our enrichment classes.鈥� shares Susie Green, student program specialist at 海角吃瓜网. 鈥淲e always encourage students to try something totally new. Perhaps that 鈥榥ew thing鈥� will lead students to more inquiry, or perhaps it will lead them to an eventual career.鈥� Applied mathematics, science and computer science skills are also used in other College for Kids courses including 鈥淓xploring Biotechnology鈥�, 鈥淢ath in Nature鈥�, 鈥淓ngineering Structures鈥�, 鈥淰irtual 3-D Creations鈥�, 鈥淢ath of Monkey Business鈥� and more.
But it鈥檚 not only STEM skills taught at College for Kids. Students gain other professional skills including leadership in 鈥淏eing an Effective Leader鈥�, financial literacy in 鈥淪how me the Money!鈥�, public speaking and argumentation in 鈥淢ock Trial鈥� and even gain early world foreign language skills in Spanish or Japanese.聽
One new course, 鈥淓ngineering Design: Developing a Card Game鈥� 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. 鈥淪tudents 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,鈥� adds Green. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 think of a better way for kids to learn a variety of skills that apply to the real world.鈥�
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鈥檚 something you鈥檝e learned in this class? Kaden: A lot of math skills! I鈥檝e learned that there鈥檚 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鈥檓 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鈥檚 something you鈥檝e 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鈥檚 something you鈥檝e learned in this class? Logan Clark: I鈥檝e learned how the stock market works. |
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Alison & Benjamin from Iowa City CSD. Show Me the MoneyQ: What鈥檚 something you鈥檝e learned in this class? Allison: I learned about the stock units, which I didn鈥檛 know a whole lot about. Q: What鈥檚 something you鈥檝e learned in this class? Benjamin: I learned more about 鈥榳ants鈥� vs 鈥榥eeds鈥�, 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鈥檚 something you鈥檝e 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鈥檚 something you鈥檝e 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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