April 25: Find Your Edge

by Lynn Miller

Mark Kance

Hamilton’s Sylvan Learning Center is celebrating the launch of Sylvan EDGE, a series of hands-on classes that empower parents to incorporate STEM into their children’s after-school activities. “Find Your Edge” will be held on Saturday, April 25, for families, scout leaders, coaches, and educators to help children find their edge by experiencing Sylvan’s new hands-on robotics and coding activities in a fun and creative atmosphere.

The event, geared to families with children in grades one through six, will provide children with the opportunity to build and animate LEGO robots, design video games, solve fun math brain boosters, and more. Admission is free.

The center is owned by Mark Kance, who lived in both Princeton Collection and the Gentry in Plainsboro as a child. He played baseball with the WWP Cubs and later played and taught tennis. He attended Wicoff and Upper Elementary schools in Plainsboro. “Open classrooms were a challenge at the high school,” he says. Kance graduated from the Hun School in 1998.

He graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and received a master’s degree in teaching from the College of New Jersey. He taught fourth and sixth grades in Pennsylvania.

“Teaching provided a great start to the future,” he says (The News, May 10, 2013). When Kance learned about Sylvan he saw it as an opportunity to continue his work. “Being in an education business I can help others by managing the entire learning experience and I want to make sure that kids and families get all of the success possible from the program.”

“We pride ourselves on having strong relationships with local educators and a robust presence here in Hamilton and continue to be heavily committed to increasing STEM proficiency among children in our local community,” said Mark Kance, who was raised in West Windsor. “We want to provide parents with the opportunity to start STEM education at an early age in order to better prepare their children for the future job market.”

This event is one of more than 500 “Find Your Edge” events taking place in communities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Parents, teachers, scout leaders, and coaches can register to receive a free interactive class of robotics or coding for their group. More than 6,000 of these additional hands-on experiences to reach more than 60,000 additional kids nationwide will be given away.

Find Your Edge, Sylvan Learning, 3635 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton. Saturday, April 25, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Register to info@hamiltonsylvan.com. Free. 609-588-9037.