Block Kids 2017 Recap

The Block Kids event was a great success once again this year!  The Kenyon-Wanamingo School District was phenomenal to work with as well and did a great job promoting the event.  In the end we had 33 student participants this year. J   When planning the event we were a little bit nervous about getting judges to travel that far.  However, after a postponed event and the long drive we still had great participation from judges.  We even had some new faces!  The kids were very enthusiastic and created very unique structures.  My mind is blown every year at what these kids can come up with. 
 
We started out the evening by having all of the kids gather in the Media Center for the building portion of the event.  Each child was given 100 legos, a piece of poster board, a sheet of tin foil, and some string.  After 40 very quick minutes,  Geri Maki called the building time to a halt.  That’s when our judges went to work.  Each judge interviewed 2 to 3 kids.  After the interviewing portion was completed, Kelly Johnson split all of the kids into groups and lead them out into the Activity Area where Accord Electric, Alvin E. Benike, NAWIC, Local 6 Plumbers & Pipefitters, and Viking Automatic Sprinkler had Activity Stations set up.  While the kids were spending time at each of the Activity Stations, the judges went around and judged the projects, selecting the final 4.  Once the kids completed all stations, they were called back into the Media Center where the awards were handed out.  This year’s winner was Nicolas Cusey, a 6th grader at Kenyon-Wanamingo Middle School.  He built a house.  When asked why he built a house, he said it was because that’s what his dad builds cause he’s a carpenter.  Nicolas was very thorough in his description of his house.  The paper represented the roof as well as the foundation of the home.  The tin foil represented the insulation in the ceilings and in the walls.  The string represented the electrical wire.  And finally the legos represented both the walls, columns, as well as the plumbing in the home.
 
Again this was a very successful year and I can’t wait until the event comes around next year.  It’s always intriguing to see what each of the students comes up with.