Parents of young children, have you ever wished your kids wouldn't outgrow their shoes so quickly? Well, thanks to the ingenuity of two Kraybill Mennonite School students, help is here. Seventh-graders Russell Schaefer and Jayvian Girom have invented Little Big Foot, an extendable baby shoe. You can't really buy the product - yet - but you can see a prototype in action and learn all about the students' invention at Kraybill's Middle School Project Night. The event will be held on Friday, Feb. 17, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the school, 598 Kraybill Church Road, Mount Joy.

For the project night, seventh-grade students were charged with inventing something that solved a problem, an idea inspired by the TV show "Shark Tank." "It had to be an original idea that had not already been patented," Russell explained. The students were also inspired by the book "Freak the Mighty," which tells the story of a boy who builds creative inventions.

Sixth-grade students at Kraybill will be showcasing projects they created based on a book of their choice. Sixth-grader Lily Martin created a menu inspired by "The Island" and classmate Gibson Melhorn read "The Swiss Family Robinson" and then created a diorama of the family's treehouse.

Eighth-grade students designed food trucks based on books they read, and they will be serving up samples at the project night. Abby Keller, AJ Herr and Emma Lewis created a food truck called Cookin' by the Fire, based on the book "Touching Spirit Bear." It will serve sausage pasta and a berry spritzer made with berries native to Alaska, where the book is set.

Eighth-graders Riley Patrick and Abigail Heisey read "Trouble" and created a food truck called Chouan's Culinary Kitchen. The truck is named for the main character and decorated with flowers and symbols to represent Cambodia, the character's homeland. "We'll be serving bai sach chrouk, which is a Cambodian dish with rice, pickled vegetables and marinated pork," Riley said. "We're serving it with a traditional Cambodian iced coffee."

Language arts teacher Curry Snell said the Middle School Project Night serves several purposes. Not only does it provide hands-on learning opportunities, but it also focuses on written and oral communication, reading and collaboration. "Each year builds on the skills the students use," Snell explained, noting that sixth-graders make independent projects, while seventh-graders can work with a classmate or alone and need to be able to discuss their project with visitors. Eighth-grade students work in groups to complete their project, and they will give oral presentations to all of the guests at the project night. "The evening also has a competitive element," Snell noted, adding that people will have a chance to vote for their favorite projects among the seventh- and eighth-graders in a variety of categories.

Jayvian summed up the feelings of his classmates when he said the project was a lot of fun, noting, "This was a cool opportunity to make something creative and so much better than a boring old school project."

The Middle School Project Night is open to the public. Kraybill Mennonite School will also hold a game night and open house on Friday, March 17, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., featuring food trucks, board games, a cornhole tournament, a pickleball tournament and more. For more information, call 717-653-5236 or email office@kraybillmennonite.org.