Kiera Elledge and her Think Tank van are like a version of the pied piper. Wherever she goes, whatever she puts out there, the kids follow.
Kiera’s goals are innocent, getting kids pumped up about coding, science and technology.
"I spread rumors about it, spread it on my phone, all day long hours, I’m just nonstop, my mom just goes so crazy, she’s like, 'ok, calm down,'" recalled Habibah Abdelkarim, a student at River Trails Elementary in Hurst, whose class regular visits Think Tank.
The van is packed with everything from robots you can program to follow a marker’s path to magnetized blocks that lets you build and design structures to their breaking point.
Kiera’s mobile museum of science is just a few month old.
It was made possible from a grant to promote STEM learning in HEB Schools and throughout the cities of Hurst, Euless, and Bedford.
Word of the success has spread well beyond H-E-B.
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Donna Kerley runs the library program in Denton she wants to build a similar van for reading.
"Forty percent of our students live outside the city of Denton, and are unable to visit the public library without paying a fee, or have no transportation to the public library. So we’re looking at how we can fill that literacy gap," said Kerley.
The kids welcome the idea in more subjects, as long as it’s fun and there’s lots to do.
The Think Tank mostly visits different schools and festivals and puts its activities on display. Teachers say they are seeing a big difference is problem solving and excitement about science since it’s come around.
