Mobile classroom rolls into Hancock County fair

FINDLAY — The Hancock County Fair is the perfect chance to discover the many different programs that 4-H can offer. This year, a popular 4-H attraction was Ohio State's Mobile Design Classroom, a 35-foot bus packed with technology and creative services for youth. The bus rolled into the fair on Wednesday, offering local kids the chance to explore coding, music, robotics and digital art in ways they may not have access to in school or at home. The bus is led by Christy Millhouse, a STEM educator with Ohio State Extension, the outreach arm of the university's College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Millhouse said the classroom's mission is to help youth not just consume content, but create it, too. "We try to introduce them to different activities, like making stop motion movies this summer, things where they can be creative and learn at the same time," Millhouse said. "The program really gets us all over Ohio to share this learning opportunity." While 4-H is commonly associated with animals, the Mobile Design Classroom focuses on another side of the program: science, technology, engineering and math. Inside the bus, kids can sketch on iPads, compose music through GarageBand, program Sphero robots, or create stop-motions using Keynote. The robots, Millhouse said, are often the crowd favorite. "The robots always catch their attention as they come in," Millhouse said. "It gets their interest piqued and then they try some of the other things after." The program was designed to bridge technology gaps in Ohio, particularly in rural areas with limited access to internet and technology. Since its launch, the Mobile Design Classroom has reached more than 4,000 youth in over 30 towns and cities across the state. The bus is powered by Apple-donated devices and Google-funded support, delivering hands-on learning to schools, fairs and community events. Millhouse said the bus was a huge hit at the Hancock County Fair, with a steady stream of kids throughout the day. "One young man who was on earlier and said he wanted to stay here all day," Millhouse said. That's the fun part, they are immediately engaged. I showed one young man how to use a coding app and he just got on there and started playing and exploring. He was just so excited to try different things." Beyond the excitement and fun, Millhouse said the program helps families expand their knowledge on 4-H services. "It gives us the ability to reach young people that maybe haven't experienced this type of 4-H programming. "Even though 4-H is very active here, people are familiar with the animal aspect of it, especially at the fair, too." The bus runs from spring through fall, traveling to various fairs, schools and community events. Millhouse said the program is not just to entertain kids, but to inspire youth. "For us, it's really about building life skills," Millhouse said. "We're trying to help them build life skills that they need looking towards the future. I think that programs like this help them to think about future careers or think about building the skills that they need, that's why F-H is such an important part of our communities."