Activities pick up as school year winds down

It seems as if the activities pick up as the school year winds down.
I spent some time Tuesday morning at Kasson-Mantorville Elementary School where the fourth graders were enjoying LEAP Day. This is a program that continues throughout the year with each grade getting a chance to explore various career areas for an entire day. Representatives of local business are on hand to not only give the students an idea of what they may want to do in the future but also have some fun.
This week’s event for the fourth grade was the last one of the school year and the topic was health and science careers.
There were professionals from the Mayo Clinic, Dodge County Public Health, American Red Cross and the Dodge Center Ambulance and others available to offer some fun activities and maybe give the students an idea of a future job they have never thought about.
Among the tables I stopped by was Germ City where Mayo Clinic was explaining infectious disease in a fun way.
Get some clear gel placed on your hands and enter the darkened germ tent. And what happened? All of a sudden, your hand glowed in the dark. Then go outside the tent, wash your hands, and go back in. And no glow. Then the Mayo Clinic employee high-fived a student. And guess what the hand glowed too.
I guess that clearly explained how germs can be passed from one person to another.
The kids seemed to enjoy the other activities available and what fourth graders don’t like to go outside and get a close-up look at an ambulance.
I suppose some might think grade school is a little young to be exposing students to careers they won’t be considering for several years but they sure seemed to enjoy the day.
I have to admit I enjoyed it too and might even have stayed longer if it wasn’t time to get the paper put together. School seems like a lot more fun than when I was in elementary school.
While the elementary kids were exploring health careers, the high school students were stopping by a This one might have had a more serious angle as the topic was mental health.
Tuesday was also Educator Signing Day at Triton High School. Triton had a similar event last year. It’s kind of like the signing day that student athletes have when they commit to college.
This year Triton Senior Macy Klejeski was recognized as planning a career in education. Congratulations to Macy.
As I write this, the Byron Senior Awards Night, ZED Activity Fair and K-MDARE graduation are still to come.
Some fun times and a good way to end the school year.