starting one at Pine-Richland. Within a short period of time, more than 100 parents expressed interest in the program. Eventually, 40 kids— enough for six full teams— joined. Each team has between five and seven members who work together to serve long-term problems.
Ezolt’ s Division 1 team took first place in the Western PA Regional Tournament in March, and her Primary team took second place in a Spontaneous Fun Day tournament in February.“ As a coach, my job is only to facilitate the learning process. The kids get complete creative freedom on solving the problem,” Ezolt explains.“ I don’ t help at all. The solution has to come 100 percent from their own minds.”
Ezolt, a former college professor, has a bachelor’ s degree in sociology and a master’ s in community psychology. She says that children who are exposed to team-based problem solving have a definite advantage in today’ s world.
“ Learning is more than just memorizing facts. It’ s about mental flexibility, logical thinking and creative problem solving. So much can come out of collaborating with your peers,” she says.
A native of North Olmsted, Ohio, she and her husband, a computer engineer, relocated to Boston and then to Pittsburgh for his work. Recognizing the need for even more STEAM-based learning in the Pine-Richland area, they launched STEAM Studio, a children’ s enrichment center located in Wexford.
“ We saw a real need for whole STEAMrelated education for kids who love building and tinkering,” she says.“ We wanted to create a‘ maker space’ where kids could get together to learn and have fun.”
The center opened in April and offers a full variety of engineering, science and technology classes, including 3D printing, circuitry, animation, robotics and coding. Classes are available for children ages four through high school and are taught by the Ezolts and other local industry professionals. Small classes sizes ensure hands-on learning for every student, and classes are available for children with special needs.
“ As an adjunct professor, I was teaching adults of all ages. This is quite different,” she says with a laugh.“ I really like working with this age group— their brains are like little sponges.”
STEAM Studio, Ezolt says, helps kids balance“ old-school” methods of learning with new technology.
“ Technology is part of learning today— there’ s no way around that. But when we get all of these kids together in the same room, laughing and learning together for a few hours, we see how they can work together to solve problems using technology,” she says.“ It’ s a great way to balance the old with the new. Kids simply learn more when they’ re working together.”
STEAM Studio is located at 306 Warrendale Road in Wexford. For more information, visit thesteamstudio. com or call 724.370.3700. ■
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