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Wilkes inks pharmacy school deal with Neumann University

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Of funky cheese and rubber band guitars: Lessons in music and math at St. Jude’s

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Mix about 160 youngsters and a boatload of K&#8217;NEX and you will get an oven powered by a well, a combo washer and dryer, and a souped up Lazy Susan &#8212; to name just a few creations.</p><p>&#8220;We call it a &#8220;Dizzy Susan,&#8221; Hailey Gesek smiled proudly as she and her seventh-grade classmates from Wyoming Valley West Middle School fired up their device, which spun on battery power, different sections of the tray-like device holding everything from pencils to art supplies.</p><p>&#8220;It can hold almost anything,&#8221; Amelia Hoffman added, noting they spent about a week designing it before the regional K&#8217;NEX STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) competition. &#8220;We did have to have a weight limit.&#8221;</p><p>Well, of course, it is made of plastic connected to plastic, no glue or bolts in sight. K&#8217;NEX is a construction toy system.</p><p>The competition was held by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit and staged in the Sheehy-Farmer Campus Center at King&#8217;s College. LIU STEM coordinator Rich Mackrell said 11 public and two non-public schools sent teams of students grades four through eight. Each school could send two teams. First and second place teams get to go to the state competition.</p><p>This year&#8217;s challenge: Develop a new home convenience product that is also environmentally friendly.</p><p>Thus the combination clothes washer and dryer by a team from Ross Elementary in Lake-Lehman School District.</p><p>&#8220;It took us about two months to design,&#8221; Madison Long said. And how long to actually build here at the competition? &#8220;About an hour.&#8221;</p><p>All builds had to include a motor, and this one had it on the bottom, forcing one of them to drop to the floor to get it started. &#8220;In real life it would have a control panel,&#8221; Bayne Raspen explained as they pulled out a faux panel and started snapping it to the top of the machine.</p><p>While that team of sixth grade students came with printed pictures to guide their assembly &#8212; a requirement in the competition &#8212; the Dizzy Susan crew had put their images on a laptop, complete with a slide show.</p><p>A team from Lehman-Jackson Elementary had opted to make a combination stove top and double oven, which may not sound particularly eco-friendly, until you notice the gizmo dangling off the table to a bucket-like construction on the floor.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the well, there&#8217;s a turbine to generate electricity&#8221; Ben Wnuk explained.</p><p>Ask around and it seemed at least half the competitors lacked home experience with K&#8217;NEX, though most teams seemed to have at least one veteran of the click.</p><p>&#8220;I played with them,&#8221; Seth Berry said with nostalgia, &#8220;when I was young.&#8221;</p><p>Ah yes, looking back at your youth from the vantage point of sixth grade.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Savannah Serrana of Wyoming Valley West Middle School works on her team&#8217;s K&#8217;NEX project &#8220;Wheel of Accessories&#8221; Friday during the STEM Design Challenge at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418Knex1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Savannah Serrana of Wyoming Valley West Middle School works on her team&#8217;s K&#8217;NEX project &#8220;Wheel of Accessories&#8221; Friday during the STEM Design Challenge at King&#8217;s College. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sarah DeMarco tries on her team&#8217;s K&#8217;NEX project while Bow Garrett looks on. Both are Tunkhannock fifth-graders. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sarah DeMarco tries on her team&#8217;s K&#8217;NEX project while Bow Garrett looks on. Both are Tunkhannock fifth-graders. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Madison Long, Bayne Raspen and Jordan Goss of Ross Elementary school work on a K&#8217;NEX washer/dryer in one unit. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Madison Long, Bayne Raspen and Jordan Goss of Ross Elementary school work on a K&#8217;NEX washer/dryer in one unit. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Laken Parry, Charlie Rischawy, Dominick Zangardi and Michael Elgonitis work on their version of a solar blender with K&#8217;Nex during a STEM Design Challenge Friday at King&#8217;s College. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL032418knex4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Laken Parry, Charlie Rischawy, Dominick Zangardi and Michael Elgonitis work on their version of a solar blender with K&#8217;Nex during a STEM Design Challenge Friday at King&#8217;s College. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Washers, dryers, stoves and DIzzy Susans concocted in K’NEX competition