Andra Bryan Stefanoni
news@joplinglobe.com
PITTSBURG, Kan. — The minute he was given a bag full of 83 Lego bricks, a piece of string, foil and a rock Saturday afternoon, first-grader Kyle Wescott went to work constructing a series of walls.
He appeared on his way to victory, one of 40 pupils participating in the annual Block Kids Day at the Kansas Technology Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University.
As others around Wescott opened their bags, a room full of chattering first- through sixth-graders turned into a room full of quiet and focused kids.
Big decisions were being made.
Ideas were being tried, and either accepted or discarded.
They were building original structures never before seen on planet Earth — a home with a built-in security system, the world’s smallest bridge, a maze for a giant ball to navigate.
The rules for the competition supported the mission of the event: to get kids to focus on possibilities when it comes to the construction industry, according to Dennis Audo. He began the event three years ago shortly after joining the faculty in the Department of Construction Management and Engineering.
Prior to competing, many of the young builders viewed a Discovery Channel video about a futuristic city in a pyramid that could one day be built in Tokyo, Japan.
“These kids could grow up doing stuff that will baffle us, that we haven’t even thought of,” said Nick Audo, a PSU graduate student assisting with the event and Dennis’ son.
For the competition, Dennis challenged participants to use each of the materials in their bags to create something related to the construction industry — a skyscraper, a retail store, a house.
They had one hour to complete their projects.
Right out of the gate, Amber Kratz, third-grader, began work on a small bridge with steps leading up to the bridge’s towers on each end, then suspended foil and a piece of string between each tower.
And just 10 minutes into the competition, Taylor O’Brien, second-grader, was finished with his tower, hands folded, watching other contestants with interest but appearing confident. He later described his creation as an office building with foil roof held on by the rock, and the string served as a rain gutter.
Other participants constructed things, then changed their minds, took them completely apart, and began again.
Coming to a decision about the winners proved difficult for the dozen or so university students and faculty members serving as judges. As part of the competition they met with each child to ask questions about his or her creation.
“We have a specific listing of questions we ask to find out what’s going on in their head,” said Caleb Krier, a sophomore from McPherson majoring in construction management, who grew up playing with Legos “all the time.”
Judges awarded a first-, second-, and third-place prize at each grade level, handing out prizes contributed from local businesses that ranged from free movie rentals to large toolboxes.
Of those winners, judges chose the following overall winners: Third place went to Sammy Jameson, a fifth-grader; second place went to Ethan Brown, a fourth-grader; and first place went to Kyle Wescott, the first-grader who got right to work.
For his efforts, Wescott received a PSU construction hard hat, PSU T-shirt and a set of child-size hand tools.
And many of those who didn’t win said afterward that they “had fun anyway.”
Sponsors
The competition was sponsored by Chapter No. 120 of the National Association of Women in Construction, and PSU’s Department of Construction Management/Construction Engineering Technologies.
