Tarkington students take on Cardboard Challenge

Students and families recently gathered at Tarkington Elementary School in Wheeling to celebrate the Global Cardboard Challenge. Students from kindergarten to fifth grade imagined and built arcade games from recycled materials and the community came together on October 14 to play the games and raise money for Tarkington’s newly-established scholarship fund.

The Challenge is designed to inspire creativity in children and encourage them to think critically to create and build a game that others can play.

“Students used STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) skills in the planning and execution of each game,” said Ryann Rivers, Tarkington Literacy and Media teacher. “It was great for the community to come together for a common cause. The Tarkington Scholarship is something that really shows the school’s dedication to its students. Not only do we want to prepare students academically, but we want to help them out financially when they do prepare for college.”

The Global Cardboard Challenge was inspired by Caine’s Arcade, an arcade created by a nine-year-old boy in California where all of the games were made from recycled materials. The 2013 Global Cardboard challenge had over 90,000 participants from more than 40 countries.

“We look forward to making this an annual event and supporting our students on their way to college,” said Tarkington Principal Dr. Joe Arduino.