Kids participate in this program because they like the activities. It’s conducted on a voluntary basis. My kids are attracted to hands on activities—things they can put in their hands, play, build, and check to see if it works. At the end of the day they don’t have a lot of steam left for paper and pen stuff, but they like to do hands on. They’re good at that. I work with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders—mostly 6th graders—but it varies from year to year.

The 8th graders are able to master the concepts and get more out of it. Nevertheless, all of the grades can build and practice using them, but it’s harder to get them to do the math. You can motivate the kids to do the harder stuff if you have competitions and prizes.

The HOO kits are well constructed. There’s nothing better on the market. There is not a single item I need to get. I collect the materials at the end of the session and reuse them. You can incorporate the program into your curriculum as well. Next year I will use it with the 8th graders. We have a family unit and I can tie it in with a math unit as well.

My students are 100 percent Hispanic. On average they are two years behind in reading, language, arts, and math skills. Things have to be explained and broken down, but they like to build things with their hands. They take to the challenge of building something. It’s a bright focus for them.

Each module is good for about two weeks. I pull out selectively what they can handle. I will have high expectations for the 8th graders next year. I would like to use it in the classroom with them because I don’t have a lot of money for materials. My aim is to get kids interested in science.

I would rate the program A+. There are lots of things out there that are not.

Michael Cunningham runs an after school MESA program in California four days a week.