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Young local engineers showed off their cardboard trains and mini golf creations at the first Cognition showcase event sponsored by Ashley Furniture on Saturday.

Children showcased their creations made in cardboard engineering camps at Cognition and Davie County Schools Summer Enrichment sessions – made possible due to the donation of building materials and engineering training for instructors by Ashley Furniture.

Families played the courses created in the camps, watching the children’s work come to life. There was a chipping clinic every half hour with a professional golf instructor. Cardboard trains developed in the camps were on site for photo ops and an Italian ice cart was there for cooling off.

The fun continues with competitions for best in show and prizes including museum passes, golf outings, lessons, and more for participants of the cardboard engineering programs.

“Thanks to Ashley Furniture’s generous sponsorship, students had the opportunity to participate in STEAM activities and further expand engineering skills,” said Cammie Webb, Cognition board president. “This investment into our youth and children’s museum will reap benefits for the community as a whole in the future.”

“One of our goals at Ashley is to create meaningful and educational partnerships that add value to our communities,” said Kristopher Gengler, Ashley Education foundation manager. “When we met with the staff at Cognition and learned about their vision for Davie County, we saw a great opportunity to partner together and provide a camp experience that would encourage students to plan, collaborate, work in teams and build a final product. These types of skills are very important, not only in our industry, but in any career field that a student chooses to pursue.”

Cognition is a community-driven, interactive space that promotes exploration, learning, and innovation with the goal of investing in current and future generations.