FIRST Mentor Opinions

I was recently at the Indianapolis Children's Museum (https://www.childrensmuseum.org). It is like no other museum. You have to check it out. The good news is you don't need children to enter. I grew up in Indiana and have fond memories of going to the top floor to the Science Exploration exhibit. Unfortunately all the cool physical science experiments which were there when I was a kid have been replaced with an Agriscience exhibit. I'm not taking away from the importance of Agriscience, and it makes sense that a museum in Indiana needs to highlight this critical area. I just wish it could live in harmony with the old science hands on area that I remember. Ah-ha! Why did Dean Kamen choose robots when he wanted to inspire kids to pursue careers in science and technology? The reason was because robots cover everything. There are mechanical parts, electrical parts, pneumatic parts, and software. There are small robots for young kids and big robots for kids and adult mentors. W...

I was recently at a Dave and Busters. It wasn't like I remembered. I was expecting video games and pinball machines. Neither of these were available. They did have the venerable Skee-Ball. There were half a dozen versions of Pop-A-Shot, including one that played Connect 4. There was a Hatchet Throwing game with foam hatchets. There was a baseball throwing speed and accuracy game. They did have the tickets with the redemption center offering spider rings for 5 tickets and a Play Station 5 for 50,000 tickets. As I was walking through, I realized that these days they wouldn't have video games. With console games and smartphone games, people can play much better video games at home. The draw to a Dave and Busters is a physical game, which is something you can't do easily in the family room at home. I'm hoping schools still have a spring carnival or seniors day. These are filled with booths that have things like a Wheel-of-Fortune or a dunk tank. Many of the booths are fundr...