Simple Machines Inspire Students to Learn Lifelong Skills
Friday, 17 August 2012 08:44
The Loft staff at Evanston Public Library was thrilled to work with the staff and youth who participated in Project Excite over the summer months. Project Excite was created by Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development. It is a six-year program that provides an array of support and services to minority students including: enrichment classes held after-school, on weekends, and during the summer; tutoring; important “gateway” exam preparation and practice that determines math and high school placement; and educational guidance and counseling. After the success of the Loft bike maintenance and literacy-focused program last summer, a grant from the Evanston Bike Club made offering this program again this summer possible.
Each week, students from Project Excite learned different aspects of bike maintenance through hands-on learning directed by Loft staff member, Dan Tafelski. Students learned to use tire levers to remove an inner tube, locate a tube leak, patch a tube, and adjust brakes. The students and Loft staff also talked about how parts of a bike are actually simple machines at work. Through Evanston Bike Club's generous donation, all the students were provided with a free bike, bike lock, and helmet, courtesy of Working Bikes Cooperative, at the end of the six-week summer session.
Along with weekly bike maintenance components, Loft staff worked with the students on literacy activities to boost their reading comprehension, writing skills, and love of books. Each week, Loft staff read aloud from the Maze Runner by James Dashner, which was the read-aloud choice that received the most votes from the participants. After the read-aloud, students journaled, wrote short stories based off writing prompts, and participated in other creative writing exercises. A fun field trip to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's Bikes! exhibit was also arranged for the Project Excite students. During Project Excite's last two sessions at the Loft, students decorated their bikes and presented on what they had learned to their parents and caregivers.
Young Adult Librarian Renee Neumeier said, "We hope that the experience of Project Excite in the Loft encouraged Project Excite students to learn more about the design and function of simple machines, grow in confidence through building useful life skills, and begin to view libraries as a fun, valuable resource center where all forms of learning – from reading to hands-on experimenting – take place."
