INDIANAPOLIS — Some kids like Penelope Wood just know what they want to be when they grow up. Walker is an IPS fourth grader with her sights set on becoming an architect.
Wood is proof it's never too early to help your kids start exploring jobs and careers.
"If I was an architect," Wood confidently explained, "I would make enough money with the interior designing."
Her after-school instructor, Kionna Walker, may have something to do with Wood's career blueprint. Walker is giving some of Indy's youngest students some "on-the-job training" while also teaching a thing or two about representation.
Walker is an architect, but she wears many hats. One of her favorites is sharing her passion for building and designing with young people.
Through her organization, Next Great Architects, Walker is building up the next generation because she knows all about breaking down barriers.
"In school, I've always been either the only girl, the only female or the only person of color," Walker said. "I've come to find out that Black women only account for 0.3% of architects."
Walker travels to schools and other organizations, showing kids as young as kindergarten that the tools to be a future builder or designer are already right at their fingertips.
"Architecture is not some complex subject that a child cannot grasp," Walker said.
Her interactive curriculum explores the building blocks of architecture in a way kids easily understand. From designing a lemonade stand to neighborhood planning, children are using their imagination while also exploring science, technology, engineering and math.
What may seem like a lesson in arts and crafts sticks with students long after they've left the classroom.
"I have a student that was in Washington Township that signed up for my class every time I was in her school, and I just know she is going to be a landscape architect," Walker said.
And while Walker would love to see more young girls like Penelope interested in STEM fields, it's about helping as many kids as possible to think outside the box.
"It can inspire anybody to know that they can do it, regardless of what they feel like a stipulation is," Walker said.
Next Great Architects works with students up to high school and beyond. Walker even connects with students in juvenile detention centers.
As some of her longtime students have expressed interest in exploring architecture and design in college, she's now looking to partner with local universities. You can read more about the initiatives at this link.