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KIRKSVILLE, MO -- It’s never too early to start thinking about your future. That was the point of “Tech Center Challenge” held at Ray Miller Elementary School. The purpose was to get students minds thinking about the future, since they are the future.

Kirksville Area Technical Center students worked with third grade students through a series of stations, each presenting a technical “challenge.” Working together, the students completed the challenges while learning techniques and having a little fun too.

 “Tech Center Challenge is an activity for third graders at Ray Miller Elementary School and they go through right different stations. Each station represents a program that we have at the tech center and the students from the tech center, current students at the tech center, are manning the stations and they come through and do activities to help instill some interest in programs for the children. They term that third grade is a crucial year for students. We are hoping that if we can light a fire in them, so to speak, we will get them excited about what their future holds in terms of school,” says Kirksville Area Technical Center and High School Counselor  Sue Schlueter.

Some of the “challenge” stations included checking tire pressure in vehicles, pin striping a car, silk screening t-shirts, growing plats, and even construction. The hope is that the students will be interested in taking classes in science, technology, engineering, and math.

The Tech Center meets with students again in sixth grade to do another challenge, eighth grade to take tours of the building, and again in tenth grade to participate in a speaker day.  At the end of the day, the students were presented a certificate of completion.