Terra State's KidsCollege combines learning, fun for area students
FREMONT — For Kiley Puster, Wednesday's "Pizza Palooza" class at Terra State Community College's KidsCollege gave her an opportunity to create her own dessert pizza.
With some chocolate, cherries and a dash of sprinkles, Puster's imagination turned a blob of dough into a sweet treat.
"It's fun. We get to experience making pizza," Puster, 13, of Fremont said as she held up her pizza as Pizza Palooza instructor Elik Coleman finished up his afternoon class.
For almost three decades, KidsCollege has been a source of academic enrichment for more than 4,700 students in 1st through 8th grade, according to Terra State.
Course offerings vary from year to year and include classes in art, computers, fitness, history, language, math, music, science, and fun activities.
Around 190 kids from the region took part in KidsCollege this week.
Emily Riehle, KidsCollege's coordinator, said Wednesday this year's four-day event offered 23 different classes.
Riehle said Terra State added more tech center classes this year, including Roadblocks and Minecraft Modding.
She said the college is also presenting completion certificates to all kids that take part in KidsCollege.
"It's just great getting kids on campus," Riehle said.
Coleman said he had nine kids in his Pizza Palooza class, held in the college's cafeteria area.
He said students were able to see, step-by-step, what goes into making something they could produce in their own kitchens.
"They're so used to going in the store and buying it, but they see 'that's all it takes to make that?'" Coleman said.
Lori Martin and Molli Delgadillo taught a Food Art class of nine students in Terra State's kitchen area.
Delgadillo said kids in the class would be making "dirt pudding" Thursday.
In Terra State's cafeteria, instructor Alyna Hinsch said she had students make s'mores in her Edible Science class earlier in the week.
Wednesday, Hinsch showed her class how to make secret messages with lemon juice.
dacarson@gannett.com
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Twitter: @DanielCarson7
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: KidsCollege brings together fun, academics for kids at Terra State
