Students enrolled in the MCS Extended School Program (ESP) came together at Overall Creek Elementary on October 7 from 10 am – 1 pm to complete work on a 9 week Global Cardboard Challenge project.

“For our challenge, we decided to build a cardboard city,” said Kathleen Hunsicker, Overall Creek ESP Site Director. “Each site was given a unique building and guidelines so the students could play inside the city and crawl through buildings once completed.” Participants assembled at Overall Creek and worked for two hours to combine their separate projects before enjoying the scenic route of their cityscape. Buildings included a post office, grocery store and school. Some buildings were functional and included cash registers, drawers, window and doors.

“During the project we emphasized recycling, creativity and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) when building the city’s components,” finished Kathleen Hunsicker. “We tried to make it a fun learning experience.”

The Global Cardboard Challenge started in 2012 following the success of the short film “Caine’s Arcade,” which followed a young boy from California who built an arcade from cardboard. The challenge focuses on engaging children in creative play, fostering ingenuity and promoting teamwork. The project has spread to 32 countries with over 180,000 participants.