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Reviews of Portland Wiz Kids

• "Really empowering for my daughter"

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  • • 5/5 stars
  • Barbara Smythe
  • Portland, OR

  Review of Portland Wiz Kids, April 08, 2009

  My daughter participated in a "Gateway to Engineering for Girls" class and came home with the greatest collection of fun, GIRLY stuff that she built in class, from a light-up necklace, to a bouncing stuffed animal. The girls developed a great understanding of how everything worked and could explain it very clearly. Sensing no limits, she later went on to participate on a couple of fun and successful middle school teams (one of them through Portland Wiz Kids), in engineering-related competitions, including FIRST Lego League and the Sally Ride Science Foundation's Inventor's Toy Challenge. What a great introduction to technology and engineering.

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• "Extremely Knowledgeable, Talented and Eye Opening!"

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  • • 5/5 stars
  • agvivino
  • Tualatin, OR

  Review of Portland Wiz Kids, April 08, 2009

  Diana Laboy-Rush is extremely knowledgeable and incredibly talented when it comes to teaching technology. She also has a keen ability to open the minds of her students to the exciting world of becoming inventors, innovators and engineers! I had the opportunity to watch Diana in action as she coached a team of students which included my son on their march to take the second highest award given at 2008 Sally Ride Science Toy Challenge Competition which had thousands of teams competing. This was a proud accomplishment for my son which he will forever remember and for which I will always be grateful for!

  Anthony Vivino
  Tualatin Oregon

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• "Gifted Teacher"

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  • • 5/5 stars
  • cooper
  • West Linn, OR

  Review of Portland Wiz Kids, April 08, 2009

  Diana is a truly gifted teacher. I had the opportunity to sit in on an Engineering For Girls class. It was fun to witness her vibrant enthusiasm for engineering and her students. She made engineering fun and accessable by encouraging the girls' own ideas and showing them how they could create amazing projects. In addition to teaching them engineering principles and hands-on skills, she kept them focused in class and involved the girls in creating a strategic plan for their projects. She contstantly communicated to the girls positively and bolstered their self-esteem by believing in them and showing them that they "could do it." With her guidance, they did.

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• "AWESOME experience"

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  • • 5/5 stars
  • molliv
  • Portland, OR

  Review of Portland Wiz Kids, March 29, 2009

  My 6.5 year old daughter just took the weeklong Spring Break Camp at Portland Wiz Kids, and i could not be happier. The administration of the program is GREAT- flexible, understanding, informative, and quick to answer questions. The instructor was amazing, keeping the kids busy and active, even at "computer" camp. She dealt well with my daughter's separation anxiety, and i now have the only first-grader I know who would rather do computer animation than watch television when she comes home. She is telling everyone the most amazing things about robots, scientific principles, and computers. This is SUCH a unique and necessary program, especially at a time when most parents can't even keep up with the technology. Thanks, Portland Wiz Kids!!!

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• "Portland Wiz Kids is awesome!"

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  • • 5/5 stars
  • CJ Mead MFS CAFE Program Coordinator

  Review of Portland Wiz Kids, March 19, 2009

  Our after school program would not have been such a success without such a great partner in Portland Wiz Kids. They provided an amazing Lego Robotics instructor as well as all the tools (laptop computers, robots, legos) for students to get their chacnce at programming. After a long day in desks these students were very excited to get some hands on work that challenged them in a different way than the traditional education system is able. The Portland Wiz Kids instructors kept the students excited about their projects and strived to keep the work engaging and fun. Portland Wiz Kids will be a mainstay of our after school program in the future!

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  Teacher's Response:

  Thanks CJ, for the positive feedback! Al and I are very excited about Spring. The robotics class is well on its way to fielding a competitive team for the FLL. We are all hoping the brilliant engineers and programmers are planning to continue with robotics through the Fall. We'll get the background on the challenge in May.

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  Thanks CJ, for the positive feedback! Al and I are very excited about Spring. The robotics class is well on its way to fielding a competitive team for the FLL. We are all hoping the brilliant engineers...

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