Day 37: Don't lose STEAM

By: Annie Phan

Precursor: This is a pretty boring, standard informative post. I would say it's only useful to read if you want to know what we did on this day.

Today was a teaching day at aSTEAM Village, a 501(c)3 organization in Kansas City that promotes education and careers in STEAM. I used the Hensel’s espresso machine to make myself an iced caramel latte to go with my toasted blueberry bagel. Then we were off to the races for a full-day learning festival. 

aSTEAM Village is located near the Paseo, which seems to be a really neat area - a few blocks away from the American Jazz Museum, which we unfortunately didn’t have enough time to visit. Mr. William Wells, the program director of aSTEAM was our point person for the day. He gathered all of the 70-ish kids out in the building’s courtyard, and directed them to each of our workshops. This was perhaps the liveliest and most rambunctious group of kids that we’ve had the privilege of teaching so far, and Kate and I found ourselves improvising new ways to keep students engaged and focused. As always, the kids built creative an unique projects in Scratch, and although we had a lot of fun throughout the day, by the end of our last session we were ready to head out after a giant group photo. 

We bid the Village adieu and drove back to the Hensel’s, where we apparently had not yet started the dryer. Whoops. Delia, Kate, and Alex biked the 27 miles to Garden, while Bethany and Matt consulted a minute clinic for advice on their respective ailments. Lisa and I waited at the house and were met by Matt and our vehicle, and I drove quickly along I-35 South to Gardner. This was bizarre for me, since the highway was dark and bumpy and empty, unlike the I-35 that runs down through Texas which I’m very familiar with - not very dark, and not at all empty, although it’s also pretty bumpy. 

The Hensel family in Kansas City, and their two Papillon dogs!

In Gardner we met the Link family and were treated to a late dinner of edamame spaghetti (as well as regular spaghetti) with marinara, salad, garlic bread, and a healthy but delicious no-bake cheesecake. After a bit of conversation we headed downstairs to shower and sleep.

Personal blog: https://squeeksqueek.wordpress.com/