Our Stories

Students Build a Working Arcade out of Recycled Materials

April 29, 2015 by Gabri K (’20) (Students)

The Cardboard Box Challenge is a program that takes science, math, economics and especially Earth Day to a new level. Students had the chance to make arcade games out of an endless amount of recycled materials over four Sundays and during special recess periods once a week for  thirty-minutes.

Third grader Zoe Kaiser-Blueth said, “I realized it was actually helping the earth at the same time as being fun.”

Third graders Margot Wheeler and Benny Hasenberg exclaimed, “It didn’t really feel like we were helping the earth, but it was really fun.”

Last Sunday, April 19, was the opening of the big arcade. Everyone got to play everyone else’s games along with monitoring and teaching people how to play their own games. “It was wonderful to see months of hard work creating cardboard games come together at the final Sunday event. The students had a great time playing one another’s games for tickets and prizes,” said Alexandra Taylor, a science teacher at JPDS-NC and the person who led the Cardboard Box Challenge at our school.

Creativity is a big part of being a kid. Every single child wants to let their creativity out and will jump at the chance to get started on a new idea. The Cardboard Box Challenge was a great way to help kids let loose their creativity and help them become who they are.