Faculty members sought for Kids Fest that educates, engages young minds

August 15, 2019
Categories: Faculty/Staff Tags: Academic Affairs, Community Engagement, Faculty and Staff News, University Advancement

UNC Charlotte archaeologist Sara Juengst spends her summers working in South America. So by the fall, she’s ready to engage with the Charlotte community and some of its youngest residents. She finds that audience at Kids Fest, a free interactive educational event designed for children age 10 and under and their families.

University City Partners, a nonprofit organization that helps drive development in the University City area, created Kids Fest to expand the minds of children and parents in the Charlotte region.

The third annual Kids Fest will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Charlotte Research Institute at UNC Charlotte. The University Advancement Division’s Office of Community Relations works with University City Partners each year to host the event, which offers a unique opportunity for faculty to bring to life the subjects that they teach.

Faculty and staff can register to participate here.

“We don’t have that many opportunities at the University to talk with kids in the community in such a diverse way,” said Juengst, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology.

But at Kids Fest, Juengst said she gets to interact with kids of all ages and their parents, as well as meet people who might not otherwise attend an academic event.

“Kids Fest is a great venue for getting people to think about what happens at the University,” Juengst said.

Faculty and staff interested in participating in this year’s event can design activities around five themes:

  • LEARN! Reading, math, history, science and technology
  • DISCOVER! Performing arts
  • CREATE! Arts and crafts
  • GO! Exploration of all things on wheels
  • PLAY! Outdoor activities, games and gaming

“Kids Fest is a wonderful opportunity for faculty and staff to educate and engage with young minds outside the classroom,” said Jordan Harris, UNC Charlotte’s associate director of Community Relations. “The event is inspiring and motivating for kids and kids-at-heart.”

Juengst has set up a booth at Kids Fest every year. She also uses the event as a teaching opportunity for her undergraduate and master’s students. She said it’s good experience for them, especially the ones who are interested in teaching as a career.

“A lot of kids ask us questions about dinosaurs, which we’re happy to talk about,” Juengst said of the young visitors to her booth.

But Juengst gives kids the full range of her field. The activities at her booth range from the simple—letting little kids dig for “artifacts” in a sandbox—to the more complicated activities for older kids, such as jigsaw puzzles that resemble artifacts and give them the experience of reconstructing something.

“For the most part, I think everyone walks away having learned something,” Juengst said.