On one side of the school gym, buckets of pink and blue glue were lined up on a glitter-covered slime-making table. While several families were making slime, on the other side of the gym, the sounds of dribbling basketballs echoed around the room from kids and adults playing with basketballs.
The Detroit Parent Network’s free annual “Young Inventors” event, held Wednesday at College Preparatory Academy in Detroit, also offered health and dental screenings, access to health care and the opportunity to participate in advocacy for education and child care policies.
Remy Searles, DPN’s senior director of programming and impact, said the event aims to provide something fun for caregivers and children while increasing access to resources.
“We want to provide information to parents, educate them on things they might not know, and give them resources so they can do what they want to do,” Searles said. “How do they fit that into their lives? So rather than telling people what to do or how to do it, we just provide access to resources.”
Typically, the event sees students presenting their creative projects, but this year attendees also took part in other activities.
DPN introduced new activities such as “literacy passports” where children could get stamped at each station and receive a prize.
Families can also swap books at “Take a Book, Give a Book” stations that offer new books for a variety of reading levels.
Kids can also vote in two mock elections: Cookie Monster vs. Elmo for President, and Android vs. iPhone.
Jessica Walk and her 2-year-old daughter attended because they were looking for a fun way to get out and about in the community. They especially enjoyed the slime-making table.
Cousins Alaka’i and Abel McClain helped DPN prepare for the event. Alaka’i, a youth volunteer who will be in 10th grade at DPN, helped Abel set up the craft table. Abel, a 6th grade student attending Lincoln Middle School, was also a fan of the slime table.
DPN Program Manager Toyja Bridges, who has helped run the program each year, especially enjoys watching families do experiments and fun activities with their children.
“It’s a great time to spend with family,” Bridges said. “It’s wonderful. I love seeing people come together.”
DPNN Translationwhich has hosted the event twice so far, is a parent engagement organization that helps parents advocate for their children and make a difference in their schools and communities.
Alex Kraus is a summer intern at Chalkbeat Detroit. He can be reached at [email protected].
