MOUNT VERNON — White bulbs light intermittently in the large picture windows fronting 400 S. Main Street.
What drivers see might appear haphazard, or even out of order to those unfamiliar with SPI Spot: a graphic of Lady Liberty, a barn owl situated atop a plywood box, and some strands of lights displayed as if held aloft by cardinals.
But as SPI Executive Director Stephanie Geiger explains, the vignette is intentional and in working order. It is indicative of the approach her staff takes when devising fun for the thousands of area visitors who spend time there.
The window display is interactive, a showcase for the learning and fun happening inside. It was inspired by the recent installation of a replica Statue of Liberty outside the Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau at the CA&A Depot.
“When conceiving of activities, our staff works to find creative ways to highlight locally relevant happenings or to give kids unique angles on news stories” said Geiger. “When that statue went up, we imagined a barn owl (which is a species listed as “threatened” in Ohio) seeing it as a symbol of welcome to Mount Vernon, just as countless people seeking new lives have done before him as they approached the real one at Ellis Island.
“We wanted to echo the general message intended with that installation but with an SPI twist. So we placed an imaginary nest box at SPI Spot as the center of a kid-friendly narrative.”
Once inside, families work together to complete challenges (dubbed “SPI missions”) set up throughout the play space. In the current example, these may have conservation or Statue of Liberty connections or include images of local landmarks and amenities such as the Kokosing Gap Trail.
Each time visitors figure something out or complete a challenge, kids are either given directions to advance to other areas inside SPI Spot, or they are handed tools that allow them to cause an action to occur.
For instance, they may collect a key which, when inserted into a special switch, will momentarily light up a particular section area of the window.
One observable effect is that a portion of the poem “The New Colossus” gets spotlighted. Caregivers consider together the words “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
While it’s a beautiful sentiment for families to read aloud and consider together, Geiger points out there is a science tie-in if one takes yearning to breathe free literally.
“Air pollution can cause lung infection in barn owls like it does in people. And predator birds are threatened by other factors out of their control too, causing them to be environmental refugees of a sort,” she said.
“For example, changes in agriculture have reduced the availability of their favorite prey. And, pesticides on crops can cause egg-shell thinning and population decline.”
Geiger said that although her team is primarily tasked with making things as fun as possible for the families who spend time together at SPI Spot, its mission is to enable play-based learning.
As such, along with the whimsy of this installation, families will notice a section referencing air quality or can read facts about how owls navigate with an eye to the stars.
“Depending on the ages and interests of whatever kids happen to be there at a given point in time, a particular element we’ve set up to prompt their curiosity might not capture their attention. We have to be mindful of presenting info from many angles and in various formats, aligning with the learning needs of kids across age ranges.
“What we lack in budget and square footage, we certainly make up for in resourcefulness and sincerity,” she said.
Geiger wants as many people as possible to know that when they drive or bike past the Wright Center and see something light up, it’s because a kid is generally being clever or having fun at SPI Spot.
“It’s a projection of all the good stuff happening inside our little space at the corner of High and Gay Street to the outside. I hope it reminds local families that they are invited here to our community center,” she said.
Other examples of SPI’s approach
• On President’s Day, SPI opened outside its regular seasonal operating hours to invite guests in to participate in “snow science” demos and construct an igloo from plastic milk jugs.
During the demo, kids heard references to a polar explorer buried in Apple Valley which staff learned about from a two-part historical piece in Knox Pages.
• When West Nile was detected in Knox County this past summer, SPI staff modified what they say is a favorite activity (a bird scavenger hunt) so that kids were invited to put on mosquito wings and a proboscis and look for their next bird blood snack.
Caregivers could then chat with their kids about how, as mosquitoes, they act as vectors, potentially transmitting the virus from infected birds to humans by biting them. Those who participated in that exploration took home repellent wipes provided to SPI by Knox Public Health.
• When scientific research was published explaining that the same food coloring that’s found in Doritos produces surprising results when applied to mice bellies, they created a demonstration to make that more tangible for kids.
• When It was reported that two astronaut scientists expecting to do two weeks of research on the International Space Station ended up stuck up there for many months, SPI invited kids to send them video messages.
They showed families how to orient themselves to spot the ISS in the night sky when it is expected to orbit over Mount Vernon and helped older kids do the math required to calculate how many helium-filled party balloons it would take to lift them to a level where they might be seen by those astronauts and can wave hello.
When NASA’s Europa Clipper mission launched en route to Jupiter’s moon, the team set up a way for kids to recreate the journey using robotic components.
• SPI hosted a free eclipse education event last year at Ariel-Foundation Park, welcoming thousands to enjoy the astronomical event together and also to engage in associated learning stations and to dance to the sounds of The Shazzbots (an “intergalactic rock band”).
• During a previous winter season, in anticipation of the Iditarod dog sled race, the staff transformed a tiered climbing structure into a path to Nome, Alaska, to showcase the Great Race of Mercy. In 1925, dogs transported life-saving diphtheria serum to otherwise inaccessible areas.
In addition to offering access to play-based learning at its Wright Center facility, SPI facilitates outdoor summer camps in partnership with other entities, including the Brown Family Environmental Center and Columbia Elementary.
The registration for these will launch in March.
On average, 40 to 50 visitors from Knox County and beyond enjoy time at SPI Spot daily during its publicized hours. It is a 501c3 nonprofit organization operating independently in a facility owned by Kenyon College but is open to the general public.
Information about hours, pricing, program features, and financial accessibility initiatives can be found on its website or on its Facebook page.