The Child Development Center at Kent State University invited the University Facilities Management team to bring its vehicles to the second annual Meet the Trucks event on Wednesday, Oct. 7. During this event, children between 18 months and 5 years old were able to climb inside and explore 11 vehicles, including mowers, snow plows, dump trucks and street sweepers.

A child from Kent State University's Child Development
Center gets excited at exploring a tractor from University
Facilities Management during the annual Meet the Trucks
event.

Heather White, grounds manager for University Facilities Management, says she came up with the idea for Meet the Trucks when she attended a similar event in a metro park. White says she thought it would be a good idea for the children at Kent State’s Child Development Center to enjoy.

“Our facilities are the closest neighbors to the kids,” White says. “We are always driving past in our vehicles and see the kids waving at us, so they are already familiar with our equipment. This event just gets them up close and personal.”

White says her team was excited to take a half day off work and do some community outreach. For the first time this year, children got to explore a bucket truck and watch one of the grounds workers get in the bucket and raised high into the air to the joy and waving of the children.

The department also brought its brand new dump truck. Several children climbed inside and beeped the horn.

Terri Cardy, outdoor educator for Kent State’s Child Development Center, says the children were completely fascinated by the event last year and were asking if the trucks could come back weeks after.

“A lot of these children have engineering minds,” Cardy says. “They love seeing how the equipment works. Many of them ask questions about the equipment and how certain parts move up and down.”

Cardy hopes the children are able to build a relationship with the grounds workers. She says last year she received good feedback from the grounds workers.

Sara Biltz, groundskeeper crew leader, attended the event and says she helped prepare for the event by making sure the vehicles were clean and in working order.

“I was excited to come out today,” Biltz says. “I love seeing how excited the kids get when they see the equipment.”

For more information about Kent State’s Child Development Center, visit www.kent.edu/ehhs/centers/cdc.

For more information about University Facilities Management, visit www.kent.edu/ufm.