FHTC inaugurates Kid’s College
Flint Hills Technical College
Friday, July 20, 2007
Twenty children participated in Flint Hills Technical College’s first-ever Kid’s College July 9 through July 13. The program is meant to demonstrate the range of programs available at the college before a child hits high school, giving students the opportunity to build a birdhouse, create 3-D animation or even print their own T-shirt.
Ben Kerbs, 13, of Emporia, liked the variety of Kid’s College. “I liked getting to do completely different things every day,” he said.
Each child participating in Kid’s College received instruction in CPR and a CPR-practice manikin and DVD training guide for practice at home. Students also got a demonstration of a defibrillator.
“I like that we learned something that could help us in the future,” said Emma Etherton, 12, of Olpe.
Students also toured the house built by the construction technology students, learned basic tool safety and built a bird house.
“I liked using the drill,” said Max Detwiler, 11, of Emporia.
During the “Alice in Wonderland” software design class students were able to manipulate 3-D animated characters, choose from different worlds and add sound to create a story or game.
“You had to make them (characters) turn and move, so it’s a challenge,” said Nick Nelson, 11, of Emporia.
Students also got to make pasta from scratch, roll out the dough, bake it and add fresh herbs for seasoning. The last day of Kid’s College was spent screen printing a t-shirt.
All of the students said that they definitely want to come back to Kid’s College next year. Kid’s College is available to students completing fifth, sixth or seventh grades. Information for Kid’s College 2008 will be available in March, 2008.
“I think it’s awesome!” said Matthew Tincher, 12, of Oxford. “I’ve met kids I didn’t know and we’re learning more about careers.”