Albion College students and children from throughout the community recently enjoyed a time of learning and fun at Kids ‘N’ Stuff in downtown Albion.

The February 15th program was called “I Love Fossils” and was staffed by students in the college’s earth and environment and anthropology programs. About 100 children from the community attended.

“During the event, kids were able to shift through sand and beans to find different fossils, match up stuffed animals to their fossils, make their own cast of fossils, and make do puzzles of fossils,” said Albion College student Victoria Hebert ’26, one of the volunteers. “Since it was students from all different majors, we all had different backgrounds in science. So not only did the kids learn about science, but so did the students. All of the students and the kids had a bunch of fun.”

The project is funded largely by a grant from David B. Jones Foundation, which also supports student research, fieldwork, and collections management experience.

“The goal of the event is to share the joy and science of fossils (and learning about ancient life, evolution, how fossils form, and how we find fossils) with Albion’s community, especially young people,” said Madeline Marshall, an assistant professor in Albion’s Earth & Environment Department. “Paleontology is often the first type of science that young people become fascinated with, and through opportunities like this, we aim to support engagement with STEM for diverse audiences.”

“This year, Alli Harnish’s Methods in Anthropology class also made this event a central part of their course goals and developed multiple new anthropology and archaeology activities, and had students volunteer as well,” Marshall said. “ We also had many volunteers from my Intro to Earth History and Oceans classes. In total, we had about 25 Albion students volunteer throughout the event.”