ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — Atoms Recharged tries to keep kids engaged during the summer through hands-on learning. Each session has a different guest speaker talk about the four “C”s of education: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, along with what their community has to offer.
The summer program is run by Appalachia IU8. The goal of these guest speakers coming to talk with the students is to show them how they can get involved in their community.
“They did a great job, they were super interested and you could tell that they had listened to what he said just by their questions and they wanted to learn more, and that’s why we do this, so we were excited for that,” Shawn Cerully, Special Project Coordinator for Appalachia IU8, said.
This week, Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico added in another “C”, one he said was part of why he wanted to become mayor.
“I added compassion as a fifth “c” to them and explained to them that it’s showing kindness and caring and having a willingness to want to help people, and that was originally why I wanted to become mayor in the first place,” Pacifico said.
Kids asked Mayor Pacifico questions afterward, like what he would do if he wasn’t mayor and how old he was when he started working at his family’s bakery. One question in particular stood out from the group.
“One young girl’s question asked if only men can be mayor, and I told her no, anybody can be mayor, and maybe, someday, you’ll be mayor, so who knows, maybe that will light a spark inside of her,” Pacifico said.