Zephyr Cove Elementary School volunteer Greg Kinner, also known as Cubby stands with one of the looms in his classroom.
Photo by Sarah Drinkwine.
It’s not very often a school mascot has his own classroom, and students at Zephyr Cove Elementary School say Cubby’s Maker’s Space is the best room in the building.
In Cubby’s class students have creative freedom, while learning new skills such as weaving, 3D printing, building cardboard cars, painting, hydroponics, and more.
“There’s nothing like this here or anywhere, at least in the district,” said Cubby otherwise known as Greg Kinner.
Kinner has been volunteering at Zephyr Cove since 1995 when his daughter began kindergarten at the school.
“I wanted to be involved in my daughter’s education, so I started out helping in her classroom two days a week,” said Kinner.
In 2000, Kinner put on the Cubby suit and the rest his history.
Later Cubby was given his own classroom after donating items from his Weaving studio to the school, including several looms.
“About the time Terry White was the superintendent, I wrote her a letter asking if I could donate everything to the school and she put me in touch with the Principal Sean Ryan, and from there we got things started,” said Kinner.
Since, Kinner has filled the classroom with recycled materials from scraps of fabric for weaving, card boxes, shells, pine cones and needles, tile from hardware stores, and objects he finds at yard sales.
“I’m always going to yard sales or asking around for old, unused materials,” he said. “Anything that can be used to create something.”
One recycled item were lamp shades from Barton Memorial Hospital, which Kinner cut into strips and taught the kids how to weave a basket with them.
“The kids create all different kinds of things,” said Kinner. “I teach them how to make some things and help them here and there, but for the most part I let them just use their imaginations.”
One of the most popular items in the classroom is the 3D printer donated by the Parents Group.
Kinner helps students create 3D print creations such as dragons, popular characters, and animals.
After some of the dragons printed, students colored and painted them, then created habitats for them to live in with cardboard boxes, popsicles sticks, and the many recycled material throughout the classroom.
Brother and sister Caleb Melara and Anna Melara made a car for their dragon using boxes and the end wheels from a lamination machine.
“This class is so fun,” said Caleb. “I get to print dragons and make stuff.”
Anna said she likes to see her brother at school and make things with him.
Students at Zephyr Cove get to visit Cubby’s Maker’s Space throughout the day during lunch or if they have completed their classwork and their teacher lets them go.
“It helps break up their day and gives them something to look forward to and it’s a positive incentive to keep them wanting to come to school,” said Kinner. “Every school needs something like this.”
