Model rockets, solar cars and laser pistols are just a few of the unique methods used to get kids excited about learning during the Friday finale of the Riverland Kids’ College.

Kids’ College is a summer enrichment program for children entering grades four, five and six that lasts for four days every August. During the program, students attend classes at the college designed to give them an understanding of the college experience and to peak their interest in learning.

“They get to learn college isn’t scary and it’s completely attainable, no matter what challenges they face,” said Peggy Young, director of Kids’ College. “They also get to do things they don’t get to do at elementary, such as putting on whole plays or making claymation movies.”

Students participated in five programs designed to educate: Theatre Basics, Claymation, Riverland CSI, Become a Rocket Engineer and Powered Up. The theatre class is a new addition this year, while the other classes are returning.

As part of the final day, students demonstrated to their parents what they had learned in the classes. The Powered Up class raced solar toy cars they built. The kids could adjust the angle of the solar panel to increase the speed of their cars by optimizing the amount of energy it received from the sun.

“It’s really interesting. It gives you something to think about, like solar panels carry electric more efficiently,” said Maya Khanna, a Powered Up student.

The Become a Rocket Engineer students showed off their knowledge by launching model rockets near the college baseball field. The kids primed, launched and recovered their own rockets with supervision by Ken Fiscus, the class instructor.

“The kids learn to problem solve. This isn’t as simple as throwing something together with a bunch of glue. They have to listen, follow directions and sometimes determine what prevented a successful launch,” said Fiscus.

The Riverland CSI students spent their last day using a shooting simulator that has been used by the Austin Police Department for target practice and training. The students used an actual Glock pistol, modified to only fire a laser, to shoot at targets projected on a screen. One of the projections was a suspect that would randomly be either armed or unarmed. The purpose was to teach students when it was important to abstain from using deadly force.

“The simulations give the kids real situations an officer could encounter, and it teaches them to make split second decisions. Hopefully this will teach them to de-escalate tough situations,” said Gallen Thompson, a volunteer for the Riverland CSI course.

During the week prior to Friday, the CSI students also solved cases with a CSI computer game, learned how to dust for finger prints and learned about police dogs in investigations.

“Hopefully, it will also spark some kids’ interest in science and math or law enforcement,” said Steve Wald, the class’ instructor and a law enforcement instructor for Riverland. The goal is to teach the kids how much fun it can be to learn.”

The Theatre Basic group performed a live play for parents, while the Claymation group premiered the movie they had been working on all week.

After completing the demonstrations, each student was rewarded with cake and a certificate for completing the course.

“The kids were really excited to take their rockets or their cars home,” said Young. “They have taken classes at the college and, in some instances, met the actual instructors. Now they can see the value of college.”