Master builders help Allendale students piece together academics and creativity

Playing with Legos became an educational experience Wednesday for students at the Allendale Bradley Counseling Center when the Legoland Team from the Lego Discovery Center Chicago visited the Lake Villa campus.

The team of master builders worked with more than 200 students creating projects that took advantage of individual academic skills and promoted creativity.

"One of the things that Lego does is provide education with creativity, and at Allendale School we believe in doing the same thing," said Lu Bailey, Allendale's director of development. "Anytime that you can combine creativity with imagination and education, kids are awakened, they're interested, and so we knew that this workshop would be successful."

Students participated in small group workshops during the two-day event, which included building and racing Lego cars, building a Lego Allendale campus, creating prototypes in the inventor's workshop, and more.

"We thought it would be a perfect fit to come here since they are an educational institution, as well," said Mark Dabler, the events coordinator of Lego Discovery Center Chicago. "Everyone was having a great time. Everyone was very excited to be able to showcase their building skills."