{"id":2463,"date":"2011-07-15T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T14:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/?p=2463"},"modified":"2011-07-15T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T14:00:12","slug":"behind-the-scenes-at-americas-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/2011\/07\/15\/behind-the-scenes-at-americas-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes at America's Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nancy Bates has explored the ocean, played with dragons and lived in the jungle. And this year, she\u2019ll be playing scientist. What kind of job allows her to travel to such fanciful heights? Well, she\u2019s been the America\u2019s Kids <\/a>coordinator for the past four years.
\nCombining elements of an educational exhibit space with themed and traditional competitions, America\u2019s Kids allows students to stretch their imagination, learn a lot and show off skills and knowledge that they wouldn\u2019t necessarily get to showcase in the classroom.
\nThis year\u2019s theme, Surrounded by Science<\/em>, explores the mechanical, practical and scientific elements behind everyday activities like cooking. Kids then can use these concepts to inspire their creations for themed contests, such as Build Your Own Insect.
\n\u201cI try to pick themes that aren\u2019t necessarily covered in the school curriculum,\u201d Nancy said. \u201cEspecially with cutbacks, kids aren\u2019t necessarily learning about stuff that\u2019s different.\u201d
\nAnd even though science is a staple in elementary education, kids can explore these broad concepts in a completely unconventional way by entering all the cool contests Nancy dreams up.
\nNancy is particularly excited for Elemental Fashion Fun, in which kids design outfits inspired by elements from the periodic table for Barbie dolls, as well as the Scientific Character Competition, which encourages students to sew their own famous scientists.
\n\"George<\/a>
\nHere’s George Washington Carver, courtesy of Nancy
\n\"Albert<\/a> And Albert Einstein…..
\n\"Marie<\/a> And even Marie Curie!
\nWhen asked how she comes up with these contests, Nancy smiled. \u201cMost of them just come to me, but a lot of these ideas come from my family!\u201d
\nEach contest has a creative element, and each category is judged by qualified professionals, like teachers, published authors and scientists. Nancy even inputs each entry manually into the system to be judged. This year, she expects 6,000 entries from local school children.
\nEvery winning entry will then be on display next to the educational, hands-on exhibits.
\n\u201cI\u2019m out there using power tools and paint just as much as my staff,\u201d Nancy beamed as she described her role.
\n\u201cBut mostly, I just get so excited to see what the kids bring in.\u201d
\nFor more information on America\u2019s Kids, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nancy Bates has explored the ocean, played with dragons and lived in the jungle. And this year, she\u2019ll be playing scientist. What kind of job allows her to travel to such fanciful heights? Well, she\u2019s been the America\u2019s Kids coordinator for the past four years. Combining elements of an educational exhibit space with themed and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contests-and-competitions","category-education","category-funatthefair"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.fairplex.com\/blog\/fairblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}