Budding engineers like Jesus Garcia, a third-grader at Little Fort Elementary School, and Jacob Weate, a local fifth-grade student, are honing their skills at the Waukegan Park District’s STEAM (science, technology, engineering art and math) Crafting Engineers program.
Jesus’ fascination with building started at home with blocks. When his family registered him for the STEAM Crafting Engineers program, he said he thought it would be exciting. Though young, he sees a future.
“I’d like to be an engineer,” he said. “I like building things, and that’s at the center of being an engineer.”
“We get to build things here,” Jacob Weate, a fifth-grader, said about the STEAM program.
Jesus and Jacob were among six youngsters building bridges from popsicle sticks and learning how much weight they can bear on Oct. 6 at Bevier Park in Waukegan in the third of five sessions of the STEAM Crafting Engineers program.
Jonathan Cochrane, a recreation specialist for the Park District, said that every two weeks through Nov. 3, the participants work on a project where they make something and learn about the physics of it, like the experiment of putting stones on their bridges to test their sturdiness.
“It’s a good opportunity for them to learn these skills,” Cochrane said. “Sometimes they work alone, and other times in teams so they learn to work together and collaborate. It’s always interesting to see what they come up with.”
Learning his charges are excited about STEAM and the engineering part in particular, he said, though they are young, it is a good time to develop their interests. They can then pursue them as they proceed through school.
“We always need a lot of engineers in the world,” Cochrane said. “This is a great chance to use their imagination to build things. Being so interested in pursuing this is awesome. This was the first time we had them working together.”
As the youngsters began working, Jesus said he finds building — either with popsicle sticks or his blocks — relaxing. One of his partners, Izzy Remsing, an Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School fourth-grader, said she liked an earlier project where the students made towers with spaghetti.
“Making the tower was really fun,” Izzy said. “I was afraid it would break, but it didn’t.”
Emmett Remsing, a Cooke second-grader and Izzy’s brother, completed building the bridge. It grew longer and longer as they created sturdy squares with the sticks spanning a “creek” of rocks.
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Irma Garcia, Jesus’ mother, was watching the children build. She said she liked the idea that her son wants to be an engineer. When she learned about the program, she knew it was a good idea to register him.
“He has been building things since he was a little child,” Garcia said. “This class is a good experience for him. He’s learning a lot of new things.”
As Jacob worked with his brother, Joey Weate, a sixth-grader, and second-grade student Trentyn Hudson, they found ways to assemble the popsicle sticks into a span crossing a small swale in the park. Trentyn too may have an interest in engineering.
“These are the skills you bring to engineering,” Trentyn said. “You create things. I might want to be an engineer.”
Tracey Weate, Jacob and Joey’s mother, said she is not surprised Jacob is developing an interest in engineering. He too creates structures at home with blocks. He has done it for much of his young life.
“When we saw engineers in the (Park District program) listing, we signed them up,” Weate said. “He tries things out in different ways to see what works.”
Cochrane said the final two sessions are Oct. 20 and Nov. 3.