Hello, I'm your host, Melissa K. This week on Community Stories, Jr. I interviewed Benjamin
Peters. He's the mastermind behind the new CAD Fab Lab at Alexander Middle School
in Nukusa. He's seen fabrication laboratories across the world and worked to create one
right here in Central Wisconsin. Not only is this the first CAD Fab Lab at the middle school
level in the state, it's likely the first of its kind in the entire US. Each student
in the class has their own 3D printer, and Mr. Peters has a vision of introducing students
to an advanced way of thinking about manufacturing. By giving them the tools to quickly create
and produce products, he believes this will give those inclined the ability to identify
problems and create solutions. Throughout the conversation with Mr. Peters, we'll hear
from the 6th through 8th graders in his class and their opinions on which local businesses
they're looking forward to working with and favorite projects they've made so far.
And now here's Community Stories, Jr. with special guest, Mr. Benjamin Peters. I'm
Melissa K. and this is Community Stories, and I'm here with Benjamin Peters. He is the
technology teacher for the Nukusa School District. And Benjamin, I'd like you to tell me
about what you're doing with the 6th and 8th grade classes here at Alexander Middle School.
Hi, I'm Benjamin Peters. Nice to talk to you guys. So this year at Alexander Middle School
and Nukusa School District, we have implemented a program called the CAD Fab Lab. CAD stands
for a computer-aided design. Fab Lab stands for Fabrication Laboratory. This is a variation
of the more well-known Fabrication Laboratories or Fab Labs around the world.
R is focusing on computer-aided design and how it can play into applications for 3D printing
or additive manufacturing. And so our lab has the middle school here has 20 3D printers and 20
workstations. So each student has access to their own 3D printer, own individual 3D printer that
they can use to achieve the day's assignments. Now I asked the students what they thought about
the CAD Fab Lab, starting with the 6th graders. How is this classroom different from your other
classrooms? It's more quieter in there and then kind of louder in my other homes. How about you,
Piper? It's more like modern looking and kind of a bit darker and more futuristic.
What is more advanced technology in here? There's not really tables but if the same stuff was
in our classrooms it probably looks similar. It's different because it has a little bit smaller
and other classrooms have working tables and areas for you to sit. Do you think that you interact
with students different in this classroom versus other classrooms? Yeah, we don't really interact
with others when we're printing and working on a tinkercad. Now I'm here with some 7th graders.
How is this CAD Fab Lab different from your other classrooms? Because it has 3D printers and a lot
of computers for everybody to use. You can talk to people about how you make how you made your thing
or what color it was or kind of like that. I think this classroom there's a lot more technology
obviously but I think it's I feel like you learn like more and you're not doing the same thing
every single day. Well you're using your computer way more often for like tinkercad and stuff
but you also are using the 3D printers. Well it's very different which makes it unique because
like take my advisory room for example it's not as big but my advisory room is so big
but then the CAD Fab Lab has like a whole bunch of 3D printers and then it's just really inspiring
to see like how to make it and stuff. When asked how this classroom is different than others,
here's how some of the 8th graders responded. It's fun. You get to do more your own things at your
own speed. It has a lot more devices in it like computers and the 3D printers. It has more
complex and a lot more intricate devices in it. There's big printers everywhere because of the
3D printers and then we are all put together in rows not really rows but like the sections that we
have because you just have like your little own corner and like you have to ask to get up of course
and move around. Well in the other classrooms you do like actual work in this one you just do like
print stuff. How would you rate it on the fun scale? Like a seven. That's a pretty good rating.
Usually our assignments are focusing on local businesses and so we will go out to the business
for example Piggly Wiggly or Beaver's Dime Store or DomTar and we will ask them
what are their needs, what are their wants, what kinds of products would they think
would sell in their businesses, what kinds of products would their employees like and will design
them a keychain, a pen holder. For Beaver's Dime Store we designed a pocket calendar and the
students will take that assignment and design projects on their computers. They use a free
available software available through Autodesk, something called TinkerCAD and TinkerCAD is a simple
program where they can drag shapes together, merge them, copy them, rotate them and with these
designs they can print them on their own high speed 3D printer. When I say high speed 3D printer
this is actually something I've been looking for for a long time in my own research. I've studied
3D printing in the industry for about 15 years and for a long time for the last I would say 20 years
3D printing has been commercialized towards a everyday person. Starting in roughly 2006, 2007
there was a big push toward making 3D printing available for the consumer up until that point.
It was only available for big companies and so there's this explosion of interest in 3D printing
but those printers kind of fell short in terms of their speed at which they can print and so
I'm waiting for an event like this to happen and we finally found a printer that was quick enough
to print a small part within a class period which is anywhere from 40 to 50 minutes.
So all the projects they do in class can be finished by the end of the period they can take their
parts home and the printers are then used for the next period. So theoretically with an 8 period
day the printers could produce 160 parts over the course of the day and those are all individual
designs that the students come up with and at the next class period or the next day in the class
the students will design something new. Now I asked the sixth graders about what they've been printing.
So tell me about some projects that you've printed over the last week or so. Did you have any
favorites? Yeah, my favorite was the pumpkin and the crown because the pumpkin it was like
cool to watch because like the inside of us kind of like hollow and the crown like it went
around in circles and it went really fast and it was just cool to watch. How about you Kip?
The crown is one of them too and the pumpkin too because if you touch the crown like the pumpkin
on the sides it's really smooth. It's cool. What color did you print your pumpkin? My pumpkin
I think it was like that light blue that I showed you the last time. Yeah. How about you Michael?
Did you have any favorite projects? My favorite was when we had to 3D printed our lizards
when we had the free time to do it. So you picked the lizard? I actually did a velociraptor
like thing that you put together but it's just stuck together so I don't know how to take it apart.
Oh so you haven't assembled it yet? Yeah. So over the last week we worked on the pumpkin,
the catapult eight ghosts. Right now I'm making a call with wheels. We have to attach the wheels
to the car like five parts. We printed a catapult eight ghosts and the pumpkin the pumpkin's probably
my favorite just because it is Halloween and fall season. So the way to lay it out for the pumpkin
it's like a start off like a circle and then there's like indent in that like a pumpkin
looks like and the stem just goes straight up it doesn't curve. I printed mine of this like
bluish purple and then I traded for a grayish silver. Nice. So you sometimes trade projects with
other kids that have a different color that you like better? Yeah there's a lot of different color
film it so it all kind of depends on like what color we like best and if they want a trade or not.
I suppose the printer's print them all identical don't they? Yeah um like for eight ghosts
I think I have one white ghost because that's a color I printed and when I trade in the rest
off from different colors. Oh so you have a whole cadre of ghosts that are all different colors?
Yeah. Okay Michaela do you have any favorite projects that you've printed this last week?
Um I printed eight ghosts and we're planning to charitable today and I love charitable so much
they're so adorable. I forgot what else we printed this week. Well I printed a pumpkin this
week or was it last week? But I would get here for it. Sorry you hoping for a free day so you
can print a pumpkin. Yep. How about you paper? Um my favorite is the one we're printing right now
the turtle. I think my favorite project was the turtle because it has like all these unique um
features and like it being printed it's fun to watch it because it has to like go in different
places because the turtle is like weird because the head and the body and the fins and everything
they're all different like sizes and heights is different too so it's fun watching it print.
All right what do you think Jackson? Talked all. Why the turtle? Because it has very cool designs
and it's just a very cool kind of turtle. Fair enough. All right now I'm here with some seventh
graders and we're gonna talk about the projects that you've printed um over this last week. Lydia
can you tell me about your favorite project so far? Uh I made a wiener dog I think it might have been
yesterday that was one of my favorites. How about you Damien? I made an axel out from Minecraft
from Minecraft so it was different than the other segmented lizards I've seen. Yes it was like a
block. We were printing a dragon and a couple other things. What color did you print your dragon?
Um silver. Were you happy with how it turned out? Yeah. How about you Kayden? I had a pumpkin
that was gold and it probably took around 20 minutes to because it went keep going in the circle
and circle circle. I made a pumpkin plain white. It went fast because it went in a circle and took
maybe 20 minutes. So this last time we had a free day so we got to print whatever we want
as long as it was under 30 minutes and what I printed was an axolotl. So it was like a Minecraft
axolotl and the whole body moved. I printed it in my favorite color pale blue. So tell me about
some of the favorite projects that you've printed Jodan. Well I printed a car which was one of my
favorites and we're printing a turtle which would be my other top favorite. The eighth graders
talked about their projects in some detail. Um I printed a pumpkin which I thought was pretty
cool. It started as like a circle like a flat circle kind of thing and then it started like
rounding the um like edges kind of to make it into a pumpkin and then right when it was about
done it made like a little like indent and then it made like a little line for the stem.
So we've done like bolts and today we got to pick whatever we wanted and we did like a phone
stand I think last week so we've been doing some prints on the micro SD card so I don't remember
all of them but there's some really good ones that stand out. What are you printing today?
Today I'm printing a flexible dragon for the free day so it's kind of cool. I picked a like
light blue. One of my projects that I enjoyed was this flexible wiener dog that could wiggle.
How about you Kaden? One of my favorite ones that I did today actually it's printing right now
it's a crown and I made it white. We've just been printing small stuff stuff you can
fidget with stuff you can use in your daily life and my favorite one would be like this little
card that we made that spins and makes like a ticking noise like a fidget toy. How about
you Drew? I printed a little octopus one so it's pretty cool. A cartoon one. I really liked
doing the ghost with the legs because it was really cool how like you could like lift it up and
then there was the legs that came on. What color did you print yours? Oh it was like a light blue.
Probably the hammerhead shark. It was light blue. It took about 30 minutes to print. It was like
one of the shaky little fidget ones. I made my mom like this flexible dinosaur thing that she can
like play with in her pocket because she used to have one but then it broke. We're glad you're here
for Community Stories Jr. Bond WFA Charm. Stick around we'll be right back with the continuation of
the story. Welcome back to Community Stories. I'm Melissa K and I'm here with Benjamin Peters.
When we left off we were talking about the local businesses that you partner with for this
technology class. Let's talk about those local businesses a little bit and how the partnership
with you works with you and them. Yeah so last year I went around to local businesses basically
knocking on doors and explaining our program and what we're doing here and if that business wanted
to have an active relationship with the student projects we're doing here. Basically what we need
is a business who is interested in seeing production from the students being a target for our
design projects or donating time materials or investing in our program and some of our current
partners that we've reached out to and that have positively responded as our ongoing partners,
our TCR incorporated, Midotech Precision, Point Precision, WFA Char Radio, Domptar Corporation,
Align Energy, Nekusa Community Center, Beaver's Dimes store, Piggly Wiggly, Nekusa, Nekusa Lions Club,
Jacobi Custom Cues, Folies Needabru, Murphy's Onsite RV Repair, and Heartland Custom Homes.
A few of these businesses have sponsored field trips for us and many or all of them have been
the targets of our design projects and some of them remain on our target as design projects this year.
So if you heard your business on that list you're in the target for us and having local businesses
be a design target for our students is helpful for their own trajectory. They get to see
just how many businesses are active in their community. One of my assignments is listing
every single business in Nekusa. There's over 300 businesses. I put them all in a giant spreadsheet
and the students can pick one. They haven't heard of do some research on it and come up with a
product for them and generally this is pretty successful. A lot of them pick McDonald's for some
reason. It's just a very common one for the for the kids to know but around Christmas time we make
a lot of ornaments for local businesses and many of them are distributed to those businesses as
well. Making paper weights has been a popular item for the students as well. It's easy for
them to visualize and understand. We had a creative project last year where a student made a
wonderful Piggly Wiggly ornament and we gave it to the store owner and having these businesses
visit us and us visiting them if possible is as all part of the learning experience where they can
see the context of their designs at the site they designed it for. It's a delivering a finished
product to DomTar. It's a great experience for a student to have where they see the people
they're affecting with their design and it's not just an exercise in the classroom. This is
an actual thing that we're doing for real people and real businesses and I want them to see
this ongoing through their design development where they can go through the world and see problems
and see solutions in their own mind and create them quickly on their computers and develop them with
any kind of fabrication equipment that they have access to. The one of the easy ones that we've
given them is these 3D printers to use. Now I ask the students which businesses they're looking
forward to working with this year starting with the sixth graders. What business would you pick,
Piper? Um, Jacobi Custom Cures. And what would you design for them? I would design like little
giblets you can put on like the little poles. Whatever the RV repair is, cabinets. You would 3D print
cabinets for them? Yeah, shelves too. What business would you want to work with Lilian? Probably
Beaver's time store. And what would you want to make for them? Um, I don't know probably like a variety of
stuff maybe. So like novelty items that you could sell like miniature figures or what do you think?
Yeah like miniature figures or stuff like they people can like put on like display at their house
or something. How about you Michael? Probably for Walmart because how how much stuff they have to
get to sell stuff. So what kind of items do you think you could 3D print for Walmart?
Um, probably like a 3D printed couch, a 3D printed Walmart sign. Okay, my sign might be good. Do
you think a couch 3D printed would be very comfortable? Um no, it's going to be hard. So maybe like
a miniature one for a dollhouse? Yeah. So if there's a business that you could partner with, what would
it be Lilian? Maybe like like NASA or something because I would like to make like different 3D
printing things that would help build like different things in NASA and um build things that they
can use to make different things. So you'd use the 3D printer to build their prototypes that they
could then use to build their products that they wanted to make? Yeah. How about you Kip? My dad said
I'm a really good, what is it called when you build like you make blueprints for buildings?
Okay. Yeah, architect. He said I would be really good at architect because at his job they have
a 3D printer and I like to build stuff from there and I build with wood and I don't know if there's
like a like so construction basically. So you would partner with a construction project and what do
you think that you would 3D print for them that would help with their business? I would probably 3D print
a mini house so then they can add stuff and take up stuff off to see if it's good or not.
So it'd be like a model for to show perspective clients? Yeah. A Walmart sign.
Well that's perfect, what colors would you make it? Yellow, white and blue. Space X.
Okay, what would you design for Space X? Well we tall, walk it. How do you think Space X would
respond to your giant rocket you printed for them? I think it would be cool and you'd give me
audio money. Well that would be nice. How about you Colin? I would like to design a sign for
Nikusa AutoCare. They'd probably say thanks and probably appreciate what I made from.
Now some of the 7th graders got to work with local businesses last year so we'll hear about that
and who they're hoping to work with this year. Did you design a product for a local business
last year? Yes, we were like designing so we picked out like a company and we got to like design
something for it. Okay, what business did you want to work with this year if you had to pick?
I'd probably choose paper city bank. What would you design for them? I couldn't make them their logo
or I could like print some like money for them. Print some money so like some plastic money?
Yes. What color would you print it? Um, probably green. And if you made them a sign,
what would the sign look like or what would it say? It would probably say paper city savings bank.
Would it be a big sign that could be put outside or like maybe at their desk or
it would kind of sign you thinking? Probably like a stand-up sign that you can like put on your
desk because I don't think I can make one that big like hang outside. You'd have to do it in parts
wouldn't you? Yeah. Lydia, did you design a product for a local business last year? I did. It was
for I think it was a homeless shelter and it was a house with a little heart in the middle.
How did they respond to that? I'm not sure how they responded but I'm sure they would have liked it
if they seen it. So what business do you think you want to work with this year? I think
Piggly Wiggly would be fun. Do you have any ideas about products maybe you'd make for them?
Normally at Piggly Wiggly they have little key chains and I was thinking they're just normal
rectangles now and I'm thinking it'd be fun if it was shaped like a pig. So that's their
pig card right? The pig card, yeah. I did um beavers. What did you design for them? I designed a sign
that says candle and beavers. Awesome. What did they think of it? They thought it was good.
I would probably want to make some ornaments for like trees and stuff out of a tecad stuff.
Okay, think about a business that you go to or your parents take you to that you think maybe
would be fun to create an ornament for. Well, I love um Applebee so I think we should bring
in the tree for them and like push down tons of like tecad ornaments. So with a company like
Applebee's, what kind of Christmas ornament would you make them? An apple and a bee.
That would be perfect. How do you think they would react to that kind of gift? Probably laugh a bit
because of the joke. It's a pretty good one. Probably a dollar general. I'll probably design
kind of like a little store like a mini model of a store. Yeah. So I designed something for beavers
beavers dime store. I made a beaver. It looks like a beaver and then I made it to like so it could
fit on your shirt as a pin. That's basically just what I did. And what did the owner of beavers think
of it? He thought it was pretty cool. Like he just said thank you and he'll have it like up on his
desk. So is there a business that you will think you want to work with this year? Probably
beavers again. I'll just make something different like a dime or something. The eighth graders
have aspirations to work with some larger companies that are also a little further afield.
Alright Cameron, if you were going to design a product for a business that you like, what would
the business be? Sheels in Appleton. And what would you design for them? Probably like something
that they could use that they didn't have to like take off things like a thing when you
grab it off the shelf. So it's high. Oh like a like a grabber? Yeah. Yeah of my mom had one of those
that was very handy for getting things off tall shelves. And because they have a lot of
I've never been there before. Tell me what the store is like. It's two stories high and they have
a bunch of like sports, fishing, hunting stuff there. And like outdoor stuff and it's all like
it's really big. Is it easy to get lost in? Yeah. So maybe you could print the maps to put on the wall.
Yeah. Every time we go there, we spend like at least four hours there. So tell me about a product
that you designed for a local business last year, Carson. So last year we did a lot of things with
local businesses. We made them in Dali and last year, which was like a big circle and we would
put a whole bunch of detail on it and then you would put the local business name on there. That one
was pretty fun. And if you could work with a local business this year, do you have one in mind
that you think would be neat to work with? Yeah. I wanted last year if we didn't get to it,
but like like a toy car because then you can make the wheels move. That would have been pretty fun.
And what business would you design that for? I probably would have designed it for like the
McDonald's because I commend like the McDonald's car and that was my idea. That's a good one.
How do you think they would respond to that? They probably would have liked it because I feel like
it just like goes with the theme. So that would be like what do they call those happy meal toys?
We need to bring those back, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. As an eighth grader, Adeline,
is there a business that you would want to work with this year and maybe design products for
as you're going through this tech ed class? I probably wouldn't want to be like a head start
person where like you like can design balls and stuff for little kids so they can like learn
what they're going to do. So for like a head start classroom, you could design different
products that the kids could use? Yeah, like different shapes and stuff so they can like understand
and learn like all like like a ball like they can understand what it is. And how do you think
a classroom would respond to items like that that you printed for them? It'd probably be really
helpful because little kids they don't like understand like shapes and stuff so they could like
like learn while they're little so then they understand with like and it's easier for like
math and stuff for when they get older. We're glad you're here for Community Stories Jr.
on WFHR. Be sure to stick around for tail time toward the end of the hour.
Welcome back to Community Stories Jr. I'm speaking with Mr. Benjamin Peters,
the technology education teacher with the Nikusa School District. We're talking about the CAD
Fab Lab. They have at Alexander Middle School where this year students work with their own 3D
printer every day to design and print products. Mr. Peters shares with me the excitement
students bring to the classroom and how they are starting to and eventually will collaborate
together on projects in class. You're starting this class with six graders that actually have
the 3D printers. What do you hope to accomplish starting with students that young?
It's actually really exciting to see the six graders start to use the 3D printers because
they're extremely enthusiastic when coming into the program because they see from previous years
of the program the for example the fifth graders last year were very excited to come here as
six graders because they saw the production that we've been doing all last year and so they had
this enthusiasm that drives them to design faster and design more interesting concepts
because we're stimulating a culture here of design, iteration and creativity in the entire
district. As a part of the program we've also installed a 3D printer in the elementary school
where the staff there will produce products and projects to showcase the capabilities of the
printer. The students don't use that printer directly but it encourages them to think forward
to when they can join the TechEd program in sixth grade and create their own projects.
I talked with the sixth graders first about their expectations in this new classroom. Before you
started this class this year what did you think it was going to be like? I thought it was going to
be like teaching us how to use computers. I thought was she thought and also I just think we just
I don't even expect this 3D printers I just thought it'd be like around tech. I thought that
was going to be pretty boring. Have you changed your opinion? Yeah it's actually pretty fun you're
going to like it's fun seeing like what you create because like different classes create different
things and it's just fun. I thought it was going to be boring too but what I got to learn about it
when we were getting introduced into the stuff we I actually got to get a little more about what
3D printing was about. I would have thought that like TechEd would be like with computers and like
I thought that it would be like you had to make this thing and then you had to you had to do more
than one in like under a little bit of time. I would think it would be cool because even if
my dad has a 3D printer I liked a 3D print stuff and before I knew that it TechEd was 3D printing
I just thought it was computer work just constantly so yeah. I thought it was going to be like
boring or whatever but but now it's like really fun just watching a print. Back to my conversation
with Mr. Benjamin Peters. So now the project that you had them where they were creating these for
the businesses that you've partnered with that was last year. Do you see let's say increase in
what students are able to do with since you have the one to one this year. Do you expect that
assignment to be more expanded this year include more businesses? Yeah absolutely. I think that
students tend to design from what they know so if they have a parent or they know of a parent working
at a local business they'll generally ask me permission to make something for for that business
specifically even if they're not based on Accusa. So that's highly encouraged here. The one to one
printing has allowed us to open our design landscape to more collaborative projects between
students. So since they're able to produce on two printers or 20 printers simultaneously
students can very easily visualize how parts will go together. For example one student will print
a ball bearing and the other one will print a wheel for it to go inside of and they can print
them simultaneously when they're both done they'll assemble them in the classroom and that kind
of collaborative synergy is all part of what it means to be an engineer or a designer in the field
working with people even across the world on some more types of equipment and having those parts
come together. The 7th and 8th graders are just starting an introduction to working on collaborative
projects. I asked them to share their thoughts on what it would be like to work on a project with
another student or together as a group. We could both generate ideas and then so we could work
separately for maybe five minutes and then we could come back together and like view our ideas
together and we can come up with like a design that we like together and we could like a sabu
issue that way. So if the sign was bigger than what you could print on your printer do you think
maybe you could do it in two pieces and print it in two printers? Honestly I don't really think so
because the printers that we use aren't that big but you could probably print different parts
and depends on how big they are and how much space you can use because there's only a little
square there so it would depend on how big your plate is and how tall you're going to make it.
Depending on what it is I would probably take it apart see how everything works and then
take that into tinker cat and take it from there. Depending on how many parts you would have to
print maybe they could print one part and I could print the other. Do you work together with other
students in class yet? Yes I mean sometimes but I've only worked with like four so I mean with this
I would say I would need help from another student if they knew how but yeah when you work with
another student how do you work with them? I help them with whatever whatever they need and
try to get them the grades and one of us would make this part and the other would make this and
make a block thing. You could both work on tinker cat and then compare the models.
Each person does like a certain amount of parts like if there's like two or three parts and
someone do two and then the other person does one or like if it's two then one and one.
Well one person could build something and the other person could build something and then we
can try making it go together. If we're working as a whole class we'll usually just go up to the
white board and he'll tell us what to do and we'll all think of something and then we all just
write down our ideas on the board. The creations that the kids come up with they're always amazing
because they have a really interesting perspective towards design. For example creating a phone
stand that looks like an elephant or creating a calendar that's on the surface of a sphere.
These are projects that the students design themselves and are able to create physical prototypes
in a single class period. Being in a room of young designers just learning how to create is
exciting for me and we're able to see some results even in the short period of time we were
running the program here. We have some students who are thinking about careers in design,
careers in engineering, technical careers or even using CAD to lay out a bedroom or to arrange
a shelf virtually before they go in to do it physically. It allows the abstraction of design to
happen in a digital domain before they have to approach it in the physical one. It saves a lot of
time. Well thank you for sitting down with me today Benjamin. You're welcome.
Stick around, tail time is up next. What's Kevin the cat up to now?
You're here and it's tail time. In the previous chapter Kevin explored most of his new home
and is now much more comfortable with it and his human Ron. At the end of chapter 2 Kevin was
wondering about a door in the dining room that Ron never left open. Let's see what happens next.
Chapter 3. Kevin the cat finds an open door. Kevin woke up early one morning to the soft
silence of an empty house. Ron had left before Don as he often did leaving Kevin to enjoy the last
bit of warmth in his cozy bed. Kevin stretched luxuriously his black and white fur shimmering in
the dim morning light. His amber eyes still heavy with sleep blinked open as he looked around the
quiet house. Ron's early morning departures had become a familiar routine but Kevin always
wondered where Ron went so early and why he didn't stay home more often. With a whole day to
himself Kevin pondered how to fill the time. His favorite perch was the top of the cat treat by
the living room window where he could keep an eye on the neighborhood's daily goings on.
He loved watching the birds that flitted back and forth to the feeder Ron had placed just outside
the window. Sometimes Kevin wondered if Ron had set up the feeder more for the birds or for his
enjoyment. Those little feathery creatures with their bright colors and constant chatter fascinated
Kevin. He liked to imagine that they might be friendly although he wasn't quite sure what he
would do if he ever met one face to face. There was also the big German shepherd who passed by
every day with his human. Kevin was intrigued by the dog. The shepherd seemed confident and strong
but his wagging tail and eager eyes hinted at a playful nature. Once or twice the big dog had
slipped free from his human darting down the street with joyful abandon. Kevin imagined it would
be fun to play with such a large creature even if the idea of going outside was still too daunting
for him. Today however the street was unusually quiet. No birds flitted at the feeder and the
shepherd hadn't made his daily appearance. With nothing to watch Kevin decided it was time to
explore the house. He hopped down from his perch and sauntered through the living room.
After giving the room a quick sniff he ventured behind the couch to see if anything
new had appeared since his last inspection. He was just as he had left it. Dark, quiet and cosy.
Kevin loved the little hideaway behind the couch especially when he needed a peaceful spot to
retreat to. Next Kevin checked out his favorite cardboard box at the end of the couch. The box
was a perfect size for him to curl up in with its flaps creating a secret entrance he could
peek through while spying on the world. Satisfied that the living room was as it should be,
Kevin moved down to the hallway in the bathroom. Everything seemed normal, no surprises anywhere.
That was until Kevin trotted into the dining room. He paused, ears twitching with curiosity.
Something was different. The door that was always firmly closed was now slightly a jar.
Kevin's whiskers quivered with excitement. The door was usually off limits.
Ron made sure it was tightly shut every time he left the house. What lay beyond it had been a
mystery that teased Kevin's natural feline curiosity every day. Today it seemed that mystery
was within reach. Kevin patted over to the door, his nails tapping softly on the hard floor.
He stuck his nose into the crack and took a cautious sniff. The air from beyond the door
felt cool and carried a faint smell of dust and dampness. He paused at the door gently trying
to nudge it open. It took a few attempts, first to push, then a harder shove before the door
creed open just wide enough for Kevin to slip through. The sight beyond was nothing like the rest
of the house. It was dark with no lights to guide him. But Kevin's sharp eyes quickly adjusted.
As he crept forward, he noticed that the floor dropped away into what seemed like a deep
shadowy pit. He peered closer and realized it wasn't a pit at all. It was a staircase leading
down. Kevin's tail twitched with curiosity. He'd never encountered many stairs before.
Every other room in the house was mostly on the same level, but now it seemed there was a whole
world hidden beneath his feet, waiting to be explored. Kevin gathered his courage, ruffled his
whiskers, and cautiously began his descent. The steps creaked softly under his weight,
and the further he went, the more his eyes adjusted to the dim light filtering from above.
The cool air brushed against his fur as he reached the bottom and stepped under a smooth cold
cement floor. The texture was different from the wooden floors upstairs, sending a shiver
up his paws. He sniffed the air again, checking for any signs of life.
To his relief, there were no other cats around. Kevin had grown wary of other cats since his
encounters with the wild ones during his time lost on the streets. The basement, as he now realized
this space was, seemed entirely his. He took a deep breath. His confidence growing as he began
to explore. The basement was vast, much larger than any room upstairs. Kevin guessed that the living
room and the dining room were probably right above him. As he patted across the room, he noticed how
his nails made a different, sharper sound on the cement floor compared to the hardwood upstairs.
It was a new sensation, when he found both strange and exciting.
There were shells lining two of the walls, cluttered with boxes and mysterious objects covered
in a thick layer of dust. Kevin approached the nearest shelf and hopped up to investigate.
He found strange kitchen appliances, stacks of old glasses, and boxes he couldn't quite open.
The dust tickled his nose, making him sneeze with a sudden loud, a chuff, startled. Kevin jumped
down, shaking his head as the dust settled back onto the floor. In the center of the room,
was a pile of what appeared to be random objects thrown together haphazardly. Kevin approached
with caution. As he sniffed around, he discovered something peculiar, a tree, in a box.
But this tree wasn't like the ones outside. It was fake, with stiff branches that poked out
awkwardly from the box. Nearby, he found more of the same tree branches stuffed into bags.
He noseed around the pile and found colorful balls with shiny hooks attached to them.
Some were hard and smooth like glass, while others were soft enough for his claws to sink into.
Kevin's attention was drawn to a tangled mess of strings lying in one of the bags.
They were dotted with tiny bumps and had vibrant colors peeking through the tangles.
He dragged the mess out onto the floor, watching a fascination as multicolored lights
shimmered under the dim light. Reds, blues, greens, and yellows, it was a rainbow of colors and
like anything he'd seen before. As he continued his exploration, Kevin stumbled upon something that
made him jump back in surprise, a tiny human figure. It was smaller than him and eerily life-like.
But it didn't move or speak like real humans did. The figure was dressed in white with a round
halo on its head. Kevin tilted his head in confusion. What was the strange creature doing in his house?
After thoroughly investigating every corner of the basement, Kevin's stomach reminded him
it was time to eat. He climbed the stairs, leaving the mysterious pile of decorations behind.
After a satisfying meal, he curled up in his favorite cardboard box for a well-deserved nap.
The day's adventures had worn him out and he drifted into a deep sleep.
Kevin awoke to the familiar sound of the front door opening. Ron was home. Kevin sprang to his
feet and rushed to greet him in the entryway. As Ron bent down to take off his boots,
Kevin rubbed against his legs purring loudly. But then Ron noticed something unusual.
The basement door was wide open and Kevin's fur was covered in dust and cobwebs.
Kevin, Ron exclaimed in surprise. Did you explore the basement today? How did you get the door open?
Ron walked over to the basement and took a peek inside. When he saw the mess Kevin had made,
he let out a laugh. Kevin, it looks like you're ready to start decorating for Christmas.
I haven't done that in years. Ron shook his head with amusement as he began bringing the pile of
decorations upstairs. He carefully set up the tree in the living room. He placed the ornaments
on the branches after winding the string of lights around the tree. The little angel figure
still in her white dress was gently placed on the very top. It's a good thing you didn't discover
the basement sooner, Ron chuckled. The neighbors will be surprised to see the decorations up,
but at least it's after Thanksgiving. Later that evening, as they settled down on the couch,
Ron couldn't stop laughing while he brushed the remaining dust out of Kevin's fur.
You had a busy day of exploring, huh? My little buddy in pal? He said with a smile.
And you managed to make me decorate for Christmas this year. Kevin purred in response,
snuggling closer to his favorite human. The Christmas tree twinkling with holiday cheer in the
corner. The basement had been an exciting new world to discover, but the best part of his day was
always ending it next to Ron. As he drifted off to sleep, Kevin felt a little braver, a little more
confident in his new home. Tomorrow would bring more adventures, and he couldn't wait to see what
other mysteries his house might hold. Thank you for joining us for Community Stories,
Junior. I'm your host, Melissa K. Join us again next week for more stories from young people
in your community.
