It's that time of year again, Kid's College at UAHT and Hempstead Hall has been launched. Universal Possibilities is the theme this year. The staff went all out with outer space decor made from recyclable materials covering Hempstead Hall from floor to ceiling. Planets hang from the ceilings, red and blue lights illuminate the hallways, rockets and robots stand in against the walls. In every direction there was the cosmos.
"Universal Possibilities is our theme, we wanted to be futuristic and focus on steam so all of the classes are robotics, engineering, science or art related. We focus on the content there but on the decor we really went with the futuristic look. We wanted to be sure we used recyclable materials so we could show the kids that they can use their imagination and we wanted them to see their creativity. In a lot of their classes they're also using recyclable materials and we are sending home packets so if they want to do this at home, they will know how," Director of Kid's College, Akili Moses Israel said.
Children from first grade to sixth have participated in exciting classes learning about robotics, creating balloon race cars, making airplane and rocket launchers and lots of art, gaining wisdom about Fibonacci Spirals and so much more.
UAHT's Kid's College is in it's 16th year, and this year there are more kiddos than in previous years. "We have almost double the of kids this year and the response has been great," Israel said. "We are booked to the gills. We have some returning teachers as well as some new teachers."
She went on to comment on how the little ones are learning. "The children have really taken to the decor. We tried to do more audio and visual this year, so we added in audio, projection. We have a little space ship where they can look at the International Space Station. The kids are learning so much and they don't even know it, because they are having a ball. This year is going great and Kid's College will continue for the next two weeks," Israel said.
Folks from the Hempstead County Library come every morning and every afternoon to read to the children and Deanna Gilbert with Hope Public Schools is providing breakfast and lunch. Israel said, "We definitely want to extend a huge thank you to them and also to Tucker Plumbing for donating a lot of the materials used to make the recyclable rockets and robots."
"We are really trying to make memories for kids and we want UAHT to be a place that they see as comfortable, friendly and a place that they have fun, so that when they do decide to go to college they are familiar with our faces," Israel said.
On Saturday, October 21, Hempstead Hall will hold a galaxy paint night with all of the canvases the staff painted for the Kid's College theme, and there will be instructors for those learning to paint the starry art pieces. The classes will take place from 5:30 - 7:30 pm.
