Ep 131 | Pensacola Mess Hall: What happens IF?

SPEAKER_00 0:00

They're learning is perseverance, problem solving, staying with a challenge until they get to a completion. You know, the standard science experiment in school, you're to repeat it three times. Well, no, that might not get you where you need to be. So this kind of skills that you're learning are 21st century skills or whatever you want to call it, but the things you need for future careers. You know, you might not need to know aerodynamics in whatever career, but if you know how to problem solve and stick with something and try different answers, that's that's a lot of what you're learning.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in It's Gambe County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Don't touch that. Active kids are often at odds with formal education and, well, parental sanity. So, how can a parent leverage the public school system while also enhancing their child's natural state of active curiosity? My next guest may have a solution. They have been teaming up with classrooms and families to encourage experimentation and exploration of math, engineering, science, and stuff. They are the founder and lead outreach educators of the Mess Hall, a hands-on learning center in downtown Pitsacola. Today they're going to share what happens there, how they partner with schools, and why learning may be your new favorite after-school activity, making science accessible, approachable, and touchable. Nicole Dixon and Dr. Megan Pratt. Thanks for being here.

unknown 1:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

So as a kid, my aunt was a teacher, and she took us to the Omaha Children's Museum, which is very big and very fancy. You know, in contrast, Omaha has like a million population and Pitzicle, I think, is like 60,000. So when I saw that the mess hall was a thing, I was so excited. I remember as a kid, you know, walking through the door of the Omaha Children's Museum and just have a very vivid memory of what that looks like. So for listeners who maybe who have not visited the mess hall, when you walk through the mess hall doors, what does it look like?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

A lot of times people come in and they're like, is this everything? Because when you go to these larger museums, we're about the size of their lobby. But once you start getting in a little further, you realize that we don't have the, oh, I'll just push the button and run along and move on. Everything we have is long-term engagement. So you can stay all day and never finish because it's your questions that you're tackling and the your experiments. And really science is endless.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Instead of those standalone exhibits where you have like the little voice that comes out of the box and oh, check, I did that, and then you move along.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Right. Yeah. And the great thing is it's all self-guided. So it's really your journey throughout the mess hall that you're going on.

SPEAKER_02 3:22

So what kinds of things would kids experience at the mess hall? Like what's an example of one of those explorations that a kid would do?

SPEAKER_01 3:30

The thing that the kids like the most, I find, is the wind tube. We have a device that you can build a craft out of everyday materials, really, and then you can fly your craft in the wind tube, which seems very simple, but it's actually a really great engineering challenge because you can make your craft go fly out of the wind tube. You can make it hover in the wind tube. So there's a lot of different things that you can challenge yourself with at that. And you also get to make something fly. Which is always fun.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

It's always cool. Yeah. Anything you get to throw and then it maybe flies is a plus for kids and adults too.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah. And it's the science of air, gravity, and so there's a lot going on at this very interactive, fun station.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

I could see where kids would accidentally learn something in that specific example, actually, because okay, well, okay, what all of the mess, math, you know, all the things are involved in just the making of an aircraft. We do have math, we have engineering. Kids would feel like it'd be an art project, right? Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

And they're learning fine motor skills because we do a lot of stuff with like pipe cleaners, and you've got to put it through a hole and then you've got to attach it. And so there's a lot of different types of learning going on at just one station. And again, that's one station in the mess hall. We have 10, 20, 30 stations. So it there's a lot, as Megan said, you can spend all day at the mess hall.

SPEAKER_00 5:01

I will also say part of what they're learning is perseverance, problem solving, staying with a challenge until they get to a completion. You know, the standard science experiment in school, you're to repeat it three times. Well, no, that might not get you where you need to be. So the kind of skills that you're learning are 21st century skills or whatever you want to call it, but the things you need for future careers. You know, you might not need to know aerodynamics in whatever career, but if you know how to problem solve and stick with something and try different answers, that's that's a lot of what you're learning.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Okay, that is so interesting because when you think about like uh you called it like 21st century learning skills. I think I know what you mean though, because it's not, okay, I checked that box. It's like there's a an emotional intelligence with being able to sit with the vulnerability of getting something wrong or not having the answer and not being overwhelmed by your own feelings of not having the quote unquote right answer, like letting go of the right answer in general and go, okay, let's let's try something else. It's like the word try it replaces the word right.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Oh, 100%. Yeah. And one of the things we say a lot at the mess hall is failure is the first attempt in learning. And so failing isn't necessarily a bad thing. You learn more through failure often than you do through success.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

So, in your experience with the kids, because Nohoe, you work mostly like you're you're in it, right? Oh, yeah, you're in it. It's a good way to put it. Do you what do you observe about the kids in their reaction to that failure versus that failure moment? And what are you observing as far as their how they sit in that unknowing space? Like, is it, does it come natural? Do most kids hate it? Like, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 7:01

So it really depends on the child and the activity. There's a lot of different parameters, but one of the things that we try to encourage at the mess hall is that it's okay if you don't get it right. It's okay if you're struggling, it's okay if it's a challenge because you're going to encounter that in life a lot. And so learning to sort of overcome those difficulties in this kind of setting is setting you up for success in the future.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

And most of what we present usually has an instant win where you okay, you can get to something. But then what we really push is the mess around. That's the other part of mess hall, is mess around, try something different. What do you think would happen if? And so that's part of going beyond those, you know, okay, I accomplished it. No, you haven't. There's more. What else could you try?

SPEAKER_01 8:01

That's yeah, that is one thing that happens a lot, actually, in outreach is kids will be like, you know, it's a seven-minute station, and the kids three minutes in will be like, I'm done. And I'm like, oh no, you're not. You just thought you were done. Oh, coach rare. And then that actually is when I see a lot of kids light up, is when they're challenged to do something else or when they're presented with another opportunity to solve a problem. And so yeah, I'm very grateful for the mess arounds in outreach because it enables the kids to think in a different way.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

A way different way. Because Megan, when you're talking about the kids, you know, going to that next step, that's really initiating the thought, which is another level of thinking. And it's asking the what if. So it's really them pushing themselves into whatever next bit of knowledge they're going to discover instead of them responding to an adult telling them, now you will learn X and now you learn, we'll learn Y.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

And I think part of that is related to the idea that we aren't supposed to tell a child, you're smart, you're gifted. Because a lot of times that limits them. And so when we have these kids who I'm done, well, those are probably the kids who finished the test first, right? You know, that kind of, yep, I'm the smart one. I got it done fast. And I'm like, okay, great. We're so glad you're smart. That means you can keep going. Yeah. So really it's getting that push beyond what kids who learn, you know, I refer to playing the game of school, right? You know what the teacher wants, you're gonna do it, and you're done. But this isn't there's no game of life. I mean, there is, but you know, Osbro would beg to do her. But it is a chance to really say, no, you'll succeed the more you push yourself.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Yeah. And succeed in big ways, which is the best thing. And that's what parents want for their kids, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

And seeing that light is is everything. Seeing the light in a kid's eyes when they succeed at something or when they figure something out, or or when they just make a new discovery, even through failure, is it's it's it's everything.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Yeah, because they not only make that discovery and feel good about themselves. So you've got all those psychosocial identity view of themselves, then they go and they communicate, I imagine, what they learned or failed at to another person, and maybe another student, maybe to one of you, maybe to their parent. And so now they're elevating their communication skills. I mean, this is all very exciting. Like I'm I'm getting excited kind of talking about it. So before I forget, I want to talk about the M, which is math in the mess, because I don't really think of like experimenting with math as a thing, but I am more on the, I hate to divide sides, right? But if we put English communication theater, like on one side and like math, science, all that on another side, I tend to be on the the communication side, like you know, the soft sciences, if we want to call them that, psychology and all of that. So math doesn't really enter that equation for me. Tell me what that looks like at the mess hall. How do you play with math?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Well, I I talk about math is all of your prepositions before. That's time, right? In school, you learned time as a math thing, but it's really relationships. Did this happen before or after, in front of, on top of? All of these words actually are math words. They're positional words, they're relationships of some sort. I often tell people I'm really good at math. I'm horrible with numbers, and it comes up all the time. I'm I'm I'm like, yeah, my house cost a thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

And it it's happened before where we've been like, Megan, that's really that's not a thing.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Like, oh, well, maybe we had a hundred kids, not that. I don't know. You know, like so I never I never quote numbers, but but it's that relationship thinking about how, you know, if I roll dice, what are the chances I'm gonna get what I want? You know, that that kind of stuff is really how math enters your real life. It's not the drill and kill worksheets. Now I'm for that. You need you need to learn your multiplication tables, but it's beyond. And a lot of it's the puzzles that we do, you know, and one of the the activities we've done recently and when we have it as an exhibit is this fishing game. Yeah, it's about our estuaries and our waterways. But you have to you catch a fish, it's just a magnet. It seems so silly, but you have to measure it. And kids are really bad at using a ruler. Just practicing that skill with a fun game is a lot better than okay, we're gonna measure things.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

And so one of the to piggyback on that, one of the things that happens, we have a math field trip right now, actually, called Figure It Out that we're doing. And at the end of the field trip, we ask the question, how many of you all think you did math today? And we'll have about a quarter of the kids raise their hand, and the rest of the kids aren't raising their hand. And then I'm like, oh no, you all did math today at every station. And they're like, but we had fun, that was awesome. And I'm like, Yeah, because math can be really fun. Like, it's you don't like I'm terrible at math. I'm I'm more like you. I'm a you know, actor and whatnot. Working at the mess hall over the last eight years has given me an appreciation for math that I never had. And basically, a lot of it is because I never really understood it in a lot of ways. But the way we teach, if you want to call it that, at the mess hall is looking at the other side of something. And so so I've learned math in different ways just by being in the mess hall for the last eight years. And that enthusiasm, I think, is what bleeds over into the kids.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

Oh, interesting. Okay, there's so many elements here that that are I would call this like holistic learning, then because you're talking about like the sociology of your interaction which between you and the students and the students with each other. And then, you know, okay, so I want to talk about you said field trips. So does that mean that you're collaborating with other classrooms, other schools? What kind of field trip was this?

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Oh, yeah. So we have schools come to the mess hall. So we open at noon, but before we open, we have field trips that come to the mess hall almost every day from 10 a.m. to 11:30. And so we recruit through different elementary schools, sometimes middle schools, and we have classes of up to 60 kids come into the mess hall. I perform an interactive show that's about a half an hour, and then they do an hour of hands-on stations and usually six stations, and they rotate through the stations, and those stations are in collaboration with the show. So the show sort of backs up the stations. And yeah, that's what I do.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

Wow. So it's like it's like layered learning.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah, totally. And the kids don't realize they're learning most of the time, they're just having fun, which is the part I love because I consider myself an edutainer. And it it's it's really neat that kids discover things that that they didn't either think they knew how to do or they didn't think they were interested in. And then they find out that they are.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Yeah, it's interesting what we exclude ourselves from, either because of interest, lack of interest, or because someone along the way told us or failure. Yeah. They told us, oh, you're smart or you're not smart. And therefore, we're like, oh, well, that sounds like a permanent label. Right. And we don't have that at the mess hall. I love that. Yeah. Yeah, you don't even label things as age appropriate or anything.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

No. Yeah, I was thinking about the fun math activities. And there's this one thing we do. And one of the things that you'll realize when you visit the mess hall is everything we use is common materials, paper clips, rubber bands, whatever. Berry baskets. Berry baskets. Well, there's this one activity we do that it's just a printed piece of paper and scissors. And you cut out this paper and it's a grid, an eight by eight grid. You follow the lines and you rearrange it, and then you're supposed to figure out how many squares there are now. And we used to use it on the third grade field trips, and they are using their multiplication skills. Well, when you rearrange it, you go from 64 little squares to a perceived 65 squares, which uh is sort of magical. Well, if I'm there and it's a an adult or you know, usually like it'll be a kid sitting with an adult doing this activity, and I'll come over and I'm like, so adult, would you like to know more about this? And I go way deep into Fibonacci sequences and the golden ratio and error bars and I mean it's huge, and it's a piece of paper. And so we don't tell you that something is appropriate for an age group. We do mention fine motor skills. So if you can't cut something out, then you're gonna need an adult or somebody else to cut for you. You know, so some of the things we're like, you're gonna need, you know, some help. We do have a few, and we didn't mention this when we talked about what you see when you walk in. Part of our experiences are mess kits, and that's a menu of different things that change regularly. You order from the counter just like you would at the mess hall. I mean, actually at the mess hall, you don't get any choice, right? But you order at the counter and it's it's these small takeout boxes. You sit down at a table, other people are around. We have the different mess kits, and we do have some that we keep packed for younger learners just because they want to do something and they're just not ready. And so these were like, hey, I have a special thing for you.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

So and we learn that through trial and error ourselves. And yeah, and it's a chance for the younger learners to do something on their own so they don't have to do it with a parent or something like that. They can feel they can feel independent.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

What is the reaction of parents and teachers when they are in this environment? How do they respond? Honestly, they lose their minds.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Is that good or bad? If it will be in a good way. We've had so many parents on field trips and visits to the mess hall. I'll give you a perfect example. We have people who come into the mess hall and it's like grandmother, mother, grandfather, uncle, or whatever, and then like the kids and uh the mother and the grandmother or whatever are both like, oh yeah, this is do we have to pay? Do is this something we have? And we're like, oh yeah, no, you pay too. And then about 20 minutes into their experience at the mess hall, they're doing a puzzle or they're doing, you know, the wind tube or something, and they're engaged completely in the activity. And then we just like go over and we're like, you see why? And they're like, oh yeah, no, this is awesome. And so that's the the big thing I like to share with people is that the mess hall is not just for kids. It's not even just for families, it's for everybody. And and Megan also, we we say it's for all learners, and it's because an adult can have just as much fun at the mess hall as a child if they bring their sense of curiosity and and their sense of exploration with them.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

How do you see it impacting student performance? Have you had any feedback from parents or teachers about that specifically?

SPEAKER_00 19:38

So we regularly have teachers say, you know, oh my God, that kid has never spoken in my class. And they were chatting with you during this activity. I mean, teachers have cried. Really? It's oh yeah, yeah, really. Sarah Beth makes them cry all the time. She's a mean, mean lady. No, so I mean, the the level of engagement because we come in so differently. And so these are kids who the standard sit in your desk, do the paper. It's hard for them. And so the permission they get with the materials we bring really opens them up to exploring and expressing themselves in a different way from what they usually do in school.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

There's a story that I like to share. I went to a school, it was a high-needs school. We were doing our air show, which is a super interactive show. And during the show, there was there was a young boy who was very, very interactive. He was yelling stuff out, and but he but he was engaged. And so I didn't mind that he was yelling stuff out because he was yelling stuff out in a way that was you could tell he was exploring and learning, even if he wasn't being quote unquote a good boy. And so after the performance, one of the teachers came up to me and they were like, that's that's one of our problem children at the school. We're very sorry, or whatever. And even though we don't like to say this, I just said it automatically. I was like, Well, your problem child is smart. Because I was like, that kid was engaged the entire time. And the teacher, by the time we were done, had tears in rise and was like, you know, we've never seen that kid be like that. And I was just like, Well, dude, you're just, you know, we we maybe we reach the kid on a different level. Because we don't like to chastise the teachers either and be like, oh, you're doing it wrong or whatever. You know, we were just like, everybody learns differently. And that's really, I think, if there was a we obviously we have a mission statement and everything like that. One of the things I think the mess hall could could tagline if you wanted to call it that, is everybody learns differently. Look at my boss, make sure she agrees with that statement before I start giving ourselves quotes.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Creating new branding for the exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Here on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

Right. What a great time to debut it. That's approved, right, Megan? Yeah, that's good. Well, it's interesting to me, Megan, because you have your undergrad from MIT, your doctorate from Harvard. Why the heck Pensacola and why the heck Children's Science Center?

SPEAKER_00 22:15

So I'm gonna clarify it's not a children's science center. It's a science center. It's a science center. But well, I grew up here and I love science. And I have realized I also love learning. And that's one thing that all of us on the staff at the mess hall, every day we learn something new. We get new grants and we're like, oh, wow, do you know about bathymetry? And we go in these deep dives on topics and we're like, okay, now how are we going to simplify that for children? But I'm always learning at the mess hall. And so science museums have been a passion of mine forever. I really think that too often we let people get by with saying they don't get science. Now, if I wandered around and said, I don't get history or I don't get reading, you would be like, What? But we let people say I don't do science. And usually when somebody says that to me, I pick up a pencil and I'm like, okay, if I let go of this, what's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_01 23:17

And we actually have a show called Get Going with Gravity, where we teach gravity.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

But so I'm just like, no, you you do get science. You just didn't get science in school. And so I think it's just something that excites me. And I my PhD was uh really focused on one particular protein. It's a fascinating protein. My PhD advisor has been studying that protein since before I was born. I think there are more things to learn than just that protein. And so I was like, let's expand, let's learn new things all of the time. So that's sort of what makes me excited about being part of the mess hall.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

And it's the reason she has employees who have been there for years, because we learn every day. Every day there's something new at the mess hall to learn and discover and explore. And it's just it's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 24:03

I want to add to the branding since we're doing that. This sounds like a curiosity center. You know, like you said, I studied this one protein, but now you get to study all, not just study a wide variety of things, you get to figure out the puzzle of how do I communicate this to a person who A, may not be interested, like I'm interested, and B, may be at a different developmental stage than I am, and C maybe at a different intellectual level than I am. And I feel like that's the case for like true brilliance is to be able to pass along enthusiasm and knowledge at the same time. And that's that's really a special sauce.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

Well, curiosity and exploration is part of our mission statement for sure.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

And talking about, you know, diving deep when we were developing this one activity. It's very simple. Again, rubber band, paperclip, straw, piece of paper. And I saw what was going on. I vaguely remember the physics of it, but I have to summarize it in the what's going on in three sentences. And I'm like, wow, this is I don't know if I can use the word torque on this. And so I brought it home, and my husband is an engineer, and I was like, okay, let's let's figure out how to summarize this. We spent an hour working on this, and he's like, Oh, what'll happen if you do this? What'll happen if you do that? What'll happen if you and sometimes we wish that we actually had the visitors develop the activities because of the the the what happens if that we go through that we really want them to go through as well. But it these things can go really deep.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

That's amazing. And Nicole, your background is in performing arts. You said you're an actor.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

Yeah, my background is in theater.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Why does the mess hall matter to you? How did this is a very odd couple here?

SPEAKER_01 25:54

No, I know it's a it's a really good question. So the way I came to the mess hall was my husband's Navy. And so before this, I was in Virginia, and I actually worked at a science museum there as well. And that science museum hired me because I'm an actor. And basically, I was hired to do science shows for kids because a lot of times people in the hard sciences do not feel that they can perform in front of people. I'm not saying they can't perform, I'm saying they don't feel that they can perform. And so science museums will hire somebody like me to be like, okay, I will do the science for the children.

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Wait, in that voice. I have.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

But really, when I met Megan, so perfect example about what she was talking about earlier when she was talking about, you know, asking people to do things when they come in. One of my requirements at my job interview was to create a marble run. I'm not kidding. They were like, okay, here's the marble run wall. Make the marble go into the cup. And I was like, this is engineering. They were like, yeah. I think a lot of it was to see how I dealt with it. Like if I would get frustrated, if I would quit, if I would do those things. And I'm proud to say I didn't. It did require a little bit of help. But uh, but uh the joy I think that I had while doing the activity is really, at the end of the day, what kind of got me the job is because I love science and I feel this is very strong in anything you do. But if you're enthusiastic about it, they'll be enthusiastic about it. And that's really, I think, more than anything else, what I in particular bring to the mess hall is that enthusiasm about what I'm doing because I love it.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

And it matters, it does matter. Enthusiasm totally matters because if I had a kid, do you know what I would be passing along to them in terms of my perception of math? It would not be enthusiasm. So I would need you. I need to teach you binary birthday. You'll change your mind. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:56

That's Nicole's trick.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

We say, Oh, we're gonna do math on binary birthday.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Um, it's the way I learned, it's the way I fell in love with binary. Like I didn't understand binary at all when I was going through school. And then Sarah Beth, who's our education director who is brilliant, taught me how to do this binary birthday trick and taught me about binary. And now I'm like, oh my God, this is so cool. I want to teach everyone.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

Well, that that's what I'm saying. I would need you in my life, you know, for a child because I wouldn't have that enthusiasm. I wouldn't have that perspective. And I think that's what's so cool about having the mess hall as a part of a child's or a family's educational team, if you will, because it's like another approach. It's other adults, like this idea that we have to raise our kids on our own. It's really just not fair to parents. Like we need each other. Oh, it's definitely important. Yeah. And this is such a fun way to build and develop a community. So thank you, ladies, so much for being here. As we wrap up, I want to hear how people can go to the mess hall, where it's at, like hours, and then what you got going on for the grownups.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

We're located in downtown Pensacola on Wright Street by the Grand Hotel Bay Center area. We're open more limited hours during the school year. So we're open Tuesday through Friday, 12 to 5, and Saturday, 10 to 5, but we're open extended hours whenever the kids are out of school. So spring break, summer vacation, winter break, you know Christmas vacation. Thanks. Well, winter break, Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_02 29:25

And you do birthday parties too. I read on your website. Birthday parties.

SPEAKER_00 29:29

And we also, yes, we welcome all ages. And Nicole might mention our adult program.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

Sure. So right now we have, well, this will be in February. So in February, we'll be having a single science night where it's kind of like speed dating, but not the dating part. It's more like speed sciencing. So you get to do our different experiments with somebody maybe you've never met before and to see if you're compatible and see how frustrated they get. See how frustrated they get. It's a great litmus test. So we're doing that, and that'll be in February. And then we have some guest speakers coming towards the end of the summer. We'll have an expert on stress and sleep come in and talk about your misbehaving brain. That'll be super fun. We'll have an outdoor science carnival thing in the summer.

SPEAKER_00 30:17

Yeah. And also in March, we have pie day because you know because obviously. And we'll eat pie and March 14th.

SPEAKER_02 30:25

I'm in.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

Yep. And we often get wonderful donors from the community to donate their pie and various pastries and pizza and stuff like that. And we're very grateful to our donors who have helped us in the past.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

So you have a lot of things going on. Is there a way that listeners can sign themselves up to be on like a newsletter or something so that they know about these activities?

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Yeah, if you just go to our website, pencilmess hall.org, at the bottom, there's join our mailing list and you can tell us if you have kids or you're an adult or you want to come for certain programs, and you can find out more.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Yep, and you can volunteer at the mess hall as well. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Thank you, ladies, so much. This was a lot of fun. Thank you. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escandie County Public School.