Local Elks fund new educational kits for library

Today I had the pleasure of receiving a generous check for $2,000.00 from our Meyersdale Elks lodge, represented by Angie Yandora and Brooke Kindler. It is designated to provide children’s educational materials. The bulk of the money is paying for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) project kits to provide fun learning activities for children. We have already received ten each of KiwiCo kits “Colorful Chemistry,” “Under the Sea,” and “Wind,” designed especially for preschool learners, as well as ten “Roller Coaster Science” kits for Elementary students. We have also signed up for ten six-month “Koala Crate” subscriptions which will provide ten kits of a different preschool science lesson each month.

How these kits will be used may depend on how the pandemic affects our programming. Ideally, many of them will be used in-house for in-person programs. If in-person programming can’t be offered, we may provide take-home kits for participants, while making and posting a virtual program online demonstrating how the kit works for kids and their families to use at home.

A few may be prizes given to children. I’m still trying to determine if any of them are reusable, that we could add them to our circulating collection for people to check out, as they can check out our Mackin Take-and-Make STEM kits and other STEM materials.

Our economy continues to undergo rapid change. The nature of available jobs for future workers will require an understanding of STEM concepts. Early exposure to STEM learning can be fun and useful for future education and technical training.

After selecting the STEM kits, the remaining Elks funds were used to purchase books to give to elementary school aged students. (We also have books to give to preschool children thanks to a gift from our State Library.) Studies have confirmed the literacy value of having a collection of books at home for children to read and enjoy any time.

Watch for details of our GREAT SCHOLASTIC BOOK GIVEAWAY here at the library, coming soon!

We gratefully thank the Elks for their generous support of children’s literacy!