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Youth spend spring break at Kids' College
Published 3/20/2010 in Local News
By MONICA SPRINGER
They made games and learned different dances from several countries. And during spring break, they also made claymation movies and did computer activities.
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Brad Nading/Telegram Seth Loeppke, 6, left, demonstrates a game from Japan where a paper fan is used to move a paper fish Friday as his classmates look on in Garden City Community College's academic building lecture hall. The demonstration was part of a project presentation by students in GCCC's Kids' College to their parents.
Nine Garden City children ranging in age from 5 to 12 participated in Garden City Community College's first Kids' College Spring Break. They took two classes, including "Lights, Camera, Action!" and "Racing Around the World."
On Friday, each child stood in front of a small crowd at the Academic Building lecture hall to share their artwork and experiences during Kids' College.
Several kids, including Isaiah Wells, Seth Loeppke and David Johnson said they liked playing on the computers. Garrett Gigot, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student at Bernadine Sitts Intermediate Center, said while on the computer he used Google to look at street views of Garden City, Las Vegas, New York City and China.
Gigot said he enjoyed Kids' College and said his favorite part also was the computer lab.
GCCC has operated Kids' College each summer since 2001, but is offering a spring break short session for the first time this year.
At the end of the presentation, Diana Machotka, community services coordinator, gave each child a certificate and gave them high-fives and hugs.
The kids made clay sculptures, then took pictures of the sculptures. On Friday afternoon, the kids showed their parents and GCCC staff slide shows of their claymation movies.
And in "Racing Around the World," the kids explored the world without leaving GCCC. They used Google Earth Flight Simulator and Google Earth Street View to look at places in the United States and abroad.
In the class, the kids explored Australia, Ireland, Russia, China and Japan. They wrote their names in Russian and Japanese on construction paper then decorated the paper with crayons.
On Monday, when they studied Australia, the kids made boomerangs out of cardboard and learned that sheep are raised in Australia.
On Tuesday they studied Ireland, where they made traditional green crosses out of paper and old-fashioned tops that the kids used to spin on the floor.
The kids demonstrated spinning the toy tops on the desks at GCCC for their parents on Friday, and parents laughed as they watched their kids play with the toys.
"We had a blast with the kids," Machotka told parents on Friday, adding that the office staff enjoyed having little ones around for a week.
The kids also made lotus flowers on Thursday out of green construction paper and paper plates when they studied China. And on Friday they played a game where they made a paper fan and had to move a tissue paper fish down the hall when they studied Japan.
Kristi Hubbard and Michele Michalek served as the teachers for the kids during spring break. Hubbard said the wide age range was a challenge but overall, she and the kids enjoyed the classes.
Machotka said some kids returned from the summer session of Kids' College while others were first-time participants.
Garden City kids who participated in Kids' College this week include: Jon Kalbeck, Gigot, Johnson, Redmond Carter, Loeppke, Shae Valerio, Madi Pate, Wells and Scott Dunagan.
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