CAZENOVIA — This summer, Cazenovia High School (CHS) rising seniors Emma Steinberg and Claire Braaten presented the third round of their student-run educational kids program, Caz Creates.

The program is aimed at promoting engineering — and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines generally — by fostering children’s interest in creative problem solving.

Caz Creates furthers its mission through engaging, hands-on challenges and activities that expand participants’ knowledge of the different engineering disciplines and encourage them to question how and why things work.

“We realized that the dread of dry worksheets and tedious tests had replaced the love of learning and creating within the STEM community, and we wanted to reignite the spark we experienced as kids in our younger generation,” said Steinberg. “So, we moved class from desks to picnic tables, swapped worksheets with prototypes and projects, and replaced Friday quizzes with Fun Fact Friday and fluorescent potatoes in a summer program we called Caz Creates.”

Steinberg and Braaten started envisioning their program and setting goals in May 2019.

Throughout the initial design and planning phases, Cindy Bell Tobey, P.E., her daughter Glenn Tobey, and Thuc Phan served as the students’ principle advisors.

Bell Tobey has worked in the civil engineering field for over 20 years.

“Emma approached me with the idea of Caz Creates early on in its inception and asked if I would assist her in launching it,” Bell Tobey recalled. “Since I am an engineer and a person who enjoys teaching kids about engineering, my answer of course was yes.”

When the students began developing their website, Tobey, a 2014 CHS graduate who now works in digital marketing, offered up her expertise.

Phan, who teaches computer science and technology at CHS, provided additional marketing assistance, helped bridge the program to the school, and offered perspective on the types of engineering challenges and activities that would be most engaging for kids.

“After working through the hoops and barriers involving insurance, waivers, website domains, and millions of minor details for a couple of months . . . we finally held our first session in the Cazenovia Public Library Community Room on July 8, 2019,” said Steinberg.

The program creators said they immediately thought of partnering with the library because they were aware of how many educational children’s programs were already held there.

The pair presented their vision for Caz Creates to CPL Children’s Education Coordinator Jenna Wright-Martin, who was “instantly supportive” and offered up the community room for sessions.

“As part of the library’s mission, we strive to serve as a place that connects people and encourages lifelong learning,” said Wright-Martin. “Partnering with Caz Creates to host programs in our space is the epitome of this mission. Emma and Claire are thoughtful students who have a passion for learning and sharing their knowledge with younger students. The programs encourage teamwork and messy learning, which is so beneficial for kids of all ages to experience. Caz Creates sessions allow for students to experiment and work through failures in a judgment-free zone, helping to build their confidence and resiliency.”

Designed for students in grades 3-6, the program’s initial format included one two-hour session per week throughout the summer. Each session focused on a different STEM challenge designed to convey the fundamental principles of engineering.

As the program expanded and participation increased, Steinberg and Braaten decided to invite local engineers and teachers to attend the sessions and help ensure that the students continued to receive one-on-one attention. In addition to helping the organizers set the session schedules and select activities, the guests also assisted the students with their projects and shared their unique STEM-based experiences and perspectives.

In 2020, the program was adapted to accommodate COVID-19 protocols.

“We took a break from summer sessions because of the chaos of COVID,” said Steinberg. “During this time period, Hannora Race, who is also a rising senior at Cazenovia High School, joined our team. She brought a fresh perspective and had a real knack for connecting with the kids.”

Caz Creates held hour-long sessions via Zoom on the first Saturday of each month during the school year (through March 2021). All Zoom links and program updates were accessible via Google Classroom.

Following each session, a slideshow describing the featured activity was posted online, along with an optional assignment for participants to share their work. To keep the kids engaged, the program administrators also posted fun facts each Friday on Google Classroom.

Due to the online format and continued interest from 2019 participants who had aged out of the program, Caz Creates was adjusted to include grades 4-7.

This summer, the library hosted two in-person Caz Creates sessions. In July, Bell Tobey led a two-hour session focused on skyscrapers. In August, an extended three-hour session featured science demonstrations and experiments, like invisible ink, with CHS chemistry teacher Sean Kelly, as well as an egg drop challenge with CHS physics teachers Lindsey Shaw.

“[Being involved with Caz Creates] has been very rewarding, not only watching how the younger kids who participate in the program get so involved in the projects they work on during the sessions, but also watching how Emma and Claire have evolved the program over the last couple years,” said Bell Tobey. “[It was particularly impressive that they were able] to keep it going during the challenging times this past year due to COVID. It has been a pleasure to help them out.”

During the weeks in August without sessions, the program provided kids with materials and instructions to start their own projects at home with family and friends.

If their schedules allow, Steinberg and Claire Braaten, plan to hold additional sessions over the school breaks.

Caz Creates, which is offered to the community completely free of charge, is supported through donations.

“Our program is free because we wanted to ensure that all kids could attend and would have equal opportunities,” said Braaten. “We knew that buying the supplies necessary for projects that would keep the kids’ gears turning and excitement levels high could get expensive, so we reached out to local engineers and their companies to see if they were willing to make a donation to our program. Many were, and we’re so appreciative of their help”

Steinberg and Braaten hope to see their program continue after they graduate next spring.

As seniors, the pair plans to focus on establishing an advisory board that will provide Caz Creates with a formal leadership structure to distribute the responsibilities of running the program and help ensure its longevity.

“We hope to spend the upcoming year teaching a few underclassmen on this advisory board about how we run Caz Creates, so they’ll be able to organize sessions themselves next year and keep the program running,” said Braaten. “The advisory board would also feature a member from the community so we can widen our outreach and build local support.”

For more information on Caz Creates, visit sites.google.com/caz.cnyric.org/cazcreates.