Day of Discovery

Ressler Mill opens Science Factory to county sixth-graders

By Melissa Julius
Sunday News Staff
mjulius@lnpnews.com

Eleven-year old Melissa Checo thought she knew her colors.  The Lancaster Science Factory’s “Colored Shadows” exhibit showed the sixth-grader she could still learn more.

“Blue, red, and green make white, Melissa said after using the exhibit to blend colors and guess the results.  “I thought it would be black.”

Melissa and her Lincoln Middle School classmates were the first beneficiaries of a grant the Ressler Mill Foundation gave the Science Factory.  Thanks to the windfall, sixth-graders in Lancaster County can visit the museum free of charge.  The students must visit as a class, and the program is open to public and private school students, as well as homeschoolers.

Last fall, the Ressler Mill Foundation, which already supports educational programs for both older and younger students, gave the Science Factory more than $ 24,000.00 in an effort to reach middle-school-age children.

Harold Yoder, Jr., executive director of the foundation, said that his organization had searched for a way to serve these students.  He was pleased, he said that now “all six-graders in Lancaster County [have] the chance to attend.

Nicole Shoemaker is a Mountville Elementary School teacher and master’s degree candidate whose thesis suggests that students who interact with experiments, as opposed to simply hearing lectures, better learn science.

The Science Factory, she said, provides an ideal setting for students to explore ideas through hands-on experience.  They can use what they’ve observed at the Science Factory as context and foundation for classroom instruction, she said.

Itza Rodrigues, for one, thought the Science Factory helped her.  While building different Lego-like structures and testing their stability in the earthquake exhibit, the 11-year old said it was helpful to “see what we do wrong and what we do right.”

Lincoln Middle School teacher and chaperone Wendy Moncak enjoyed watching the enthusiastic students and appreciated how the museum made “learning fun for them.”  

Whitney Ortiz, 13, said “I learned things I never learned before.”

The Science Factory’s executive director, Dr. William Griscom, hopes the grant will allow the museum to “engage all kids” in science.  “Kids” can apparently mean adults, too.  Kelly Arroyo, chaperone and stepmother of Jose Schley, said “I’m learning, too.”

The Lancaster Science Factory, 454 New Holland Avenue, is open form 10 a.m. – 5p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon – 5p.m. Sunday.  For more information, call 509-6363 or visit www.lancastersciencefactory.com.