Seventh annual Idea Festival gives students a chance to get creative

BOWLING GREEN Ky.-Approximately 750 middle school and high school-aged students from around the commonwealth gathered at Western Kentucky University for the 7^th annual Idea Festival, a daylong activity filled with opportunities for students to unleash their creative ideas.

“The idea is for students to get exposed to a lot of different ideas, see that they can take their passions in a lot of different directions, and also get a chance to share ideas,” said Erika Solberg with the WKU Center for Gifted Studies.

Multiple areas were set up offering a different creative game or activity. From magic, science, robotics, and art, the students were encouraged to let their creativity be the influencing factor in each station.

“A lot of these students haven’t even been able to do art in quite a while. We’re seeing a lot of starving artists wanting to paint. It’s really fun,” muralist Andee Rudloff said.

Fun for the people running the stations, and also fun for the participating students.

“I think it’s so cool that they have so many different activities for everybody. I can experience and try out so many different things. It’s really cool to be able to do that instead of one thing,” said Anchorage Public School 8^th grader Annie Dauk.

“It’s awesome. It’s a day where you can have everything you want and everything you could ever dream of. You go places, have fun, and you get to express your imagination,” added 7^th grader from Adairville Public School Joshua Riffle.

While the kids are having fun, they’re also learning to be more confident in their creativity, knocking down any barriers in their way.

“It’s always fun to feel the huge energy of the day, and the energy is a little different each year,” Solberg said.