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Strongsville library sends kids 'Off to Work' (gallery)

Mr. Vet
Strongsville resident Gavin Siliko, 3, listens for the stuffed dogâs heartbeat at the veterinarian station at the âOff to Workâ Exploration Station workshop. (Photo by CORY SHAFFER, SUN NEWS)
Cory Shaffer | Northeast Ohio Media Group By Cory Shaffer | Northeast Ohio Media Group Sun News
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on February 12, 2013 at 10:05 AM, updated February 12, 2013 at 10:09 AM

STRONGSVILLE- Giovanni Hasrouni has some big goals for a three year old.

“I want to be a firefighter, a doctor and a policeman,” Giovanni, of Brooklyn, said. “And Spiderman.”

Luckily Giovanni was in the right place Feb. 1, at an Exploration Station workshop called “Off to Work” for pre-school students at the Strongsville Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Tim Protiva, Children’s Services supervisor for the Strongsville branch, said the free program was designed to show children some of the different careers they could pursue, including a chef, a doctor, a police officer or construction worker.

“This is the last program in a series of programs,” Protiva said.

Those programs were funded by grants from PNC Bank, and had titles like “Caring is Sharing” and “Money Matters,” Portiva said, and instilled in kids important and practical life lessons.

“In today’s economy, we have to teach our kids how to be money-smart,” Protiva said. “And the earlier you start, the better off they’ll be later down the road.”

The program kicked off with Children’s Librarian Lisa Wurch reading two books to about a dozen children, some sitting on the floor and some sitting in the laps of their parent or grandparent.

Then, after Wurch took a survey of what the kids wanted to be when they grew up – a basketball player, a doctor, a princess and a pilot - the children made their way to five different hands-on stations with toys simulating everything from a veterinarian with a stuffed dog and a toy stethoscope to a pizza shop owner with wooden pizza and toppings, a cash register and fake money.

There was also a table with animal figurines and Frisbees labeled with a habitat, and kids had to match animals to their natural habitats, and a dump truck with Legos and construction worker figurines.

Giovanni said he liked every part of the work station, but he spent the most time making pizzas for his friends, and smiling.

“It’s just fun,” Wurch said, also smiling.

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Contact Shaffer at (216) 986-5479 or cshaffer@sunnews.com.

Follow me on Twitter @cory_shaffer


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