Northfield, Minnesota, a city of 20,000 people, took the sparks concept beyond the school and into the community. Caring adults in Northfield focused on helping elementary-school students explore many potential sparks, rather than focusing on one or two early. Here are three ways they encouraged spark exploration:
- A local asset-building initiative, the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, provided financial and administrative support for several spark-exploration activities, both in and after school. In March 2010, all of the second graders went on an ice-skating field trip, and members of the high school girls’ hockey team helped them lace up skates and practice skating skills. In April, the second graders took a trip to St. Olaf College to watch the college orchestra’s dress rehearsal and talk with student musicians. All activities were framed as opportunities for kids to explore places in their community that may help them find their sparks.
- A parent-child event called “Evening of the Arts” at Greenvale Elementary School invited parents and children to explore a variety of hands-on art activities and featured displays and “spark” performances (including music and readings) by students. More than 600 people attended the event.
- A middle-school after-school program invited all program students to take the sparks questionnaire and formed “sparks clubs” for clusters of students with similar interests. One of these was the Electronics Sparks Club, which gathered to deconstruct discarded computers and other electronics. To the amazement of program staff, a young man in the club was able to combine speaker parts, copper wire, and duct tape to create a working pair of earphones for his iPod. The club also learned how to properly recycle e-waste when they finished their work with the donated equipment.
