Elementary school students and friends had a blast learning about foundations, frames, beams and columns as they participated in "Fizz, Boom, Read!" Summer Reading Club, in Kernsville Elementary School's library.

Coordinator Carly Simon led the July 15 program, with volunteers Ellen Pelzel, Prachi Soni, of Springhouse Middle School, Amber Sabri, of Parkland High School, and Gwen Subjin, of Parkland Middle School.

After a raucous song and an animated reading of "Henry Builds a Cabin," by D.B. Johnson, the children put on their thinking caps to design and build structures using their wildest imagination and recyclables collected by Simon.

Simon is passionate about the artistic reuse of discarded materials and the development of younig minds.

She has taken her devotion and started "The Tinker Factory" in the Lehigh Valley, a creative reuse center that will provide a resource for teachers, artists, crafters, families and community organizations to maximize their right-brain to make cost efficient masterpieces.

The factory, an exploratory destination for programs, field trips, workshops, will feature a used book section, boutique and gift shop.

The Tinker Factory was a perfect addition to the book club's festivities and theme, which centered around science and structures.

Children laughed and morphed old paper-towel rolls, CDs, frozen food boxes and other unwanted materials into the building components they had learned about during the story segment of the program.

Simon smiled and said it was a "joy to watch young artists grow."