Encouraging discovery: Electronics Club mentors kindergarteners
The student-run Electronics Club at The Ohio State University is sparking kindergartners’ interest in science and engineering thanks to a mentoring partnership with Enchanted Care Learning Center, an early-childhood development center.
“The whole process behind science is so important. Children need problem solving. The partnership with Ohio State engineering further supports the education we want for our kids,” said Brie McKinniss, lead kids campus principal for Enchanted Care Learning Center.
The Electronics Club has visited six Enchanted Care Learning Center campuses across the greater Columbus area so far to mentor kindergarten students via stimulating learning activities related to wiring, circuits and making flashlights.
The mentorship effort isn’t just another afterschool program, said McKinniss and Melissa Brown, executive director for Enchanted Care Learning Center. They feel that the partnership with Ohio State engineering students has helped enhance their program.
Enchanted Care Learning Center combines imagination with hands-on learning experiences to give children a well-rounded foundation for success in elementary school.
Gus Frasse, a fourth-year electrical engineering major and Electronics Club member, knows the significance of mentoring from his own childhood experience. After seeing a digital electronics demonstration when he was younger, he knew he wanted to be an engineer.
“You have core classes when you’re in elementary school, but you don’t know that they connect to the outside world. When someone comes in and shows you a demonstration that is tangible, it proves that you can do it too,” Frasse said.
On the first visit, the kids learned about Cartesian divers and principles of water pressure, and made their own miniature submarines using recycled materials. Electronics Club members work with 60 students total during each visit.
“When you take these projects into schools you have to look at it from the perspective that students don’t care necessarily how it works,” Frasse said. “From the mentor perspective, you want to know that there’s a kick in discovery and that you helped spark an interest.”
The program aims to help improve the kids’ problem-solving, science and mathematics skills as well as improve their teamwork abilities, Brown said.
Enchanted Care Learning Center hopes to integrate the Electronics Club as part of their summer camp program to further help children learn and advance their skills, while being mentored by Ohio State’s innovators of tomorrow.
Written by Kyjah Coryat
