Climbing a Friendly Serpent, Chiming a Jolly Tune

August 9, 2007

Children at the Harris Family Children's Center making the most of the friendly serpent

As the Harris Family Children's Center (HFCC) settled into its new 8,000-square-foot home last fall, Mary Driscoll, Center director, saw the need for more discovery equipment on the Center's grounds. "We give careful consideration to each and every item added to our outdoor learning environment," explains Driscoll. "The outdoors serves as an extension to the classroom. It contains a hidden curriculum designed to stimulate children's senses and nurture their curiosity."

Driscoll contacted the Capital Budget Committee, which oversees new equipment expenditures on campus. Jerry Hill and Merril Dwyer, Committee members, joined Driscoll at HFCC to brainstorm ideas. "We talked about how wonderful it would be to have a creature going into and coming out of the ground, sort of like a wave," explains Driscoll. "I wanted something natural and interactive that the children could climb on. We also talked about a set of large, outdoor chimes."

Hill, supervisor of the Academy heating station that feeds steam to 100 buildings on and around campus, is widely known as a creative spirit and accomplished welder. He knew a good idea when he heard one. Within 24 hours of visiting HFCC, Hill had transformed the wave-like structure into a serpent. He had also arranged a donation from a local merchant, Bobcat of New Hampshire, for the most important part – the long, scaly back (two 13-foot Bobcat tracks, cut in half by Hill; the head and tail were ultimately crafted from tires donated by the Academy garage).

Hill and co-workers Rick Riley and Anthony Antosiewicz were delighted to build discovery equipment for the HFCC.  "We like making things," explains Hill. But, the real fun was hearing the delighted reaction of the children as they installed the serpent, which arrived in two pieces. "The children were watching us take the serpent off the truck," explains Hill. "The head was facing away from them. They all started to guess what it could be. One little girl, a tiny peanut, immediately recognized it as a serpent."

Others chimed in with guesses. Three-year-old Anna took a descriptive approach: "It has a big head, long tongue and humps. It eats woodchips." For action-oriented 4-year-olds, like Gus, the excitement was palpable: "It's bigger than me. Wicked cool!" For several children, the challenge was to find a real-life, comprehensible counterpart. "It looks like it's a snake," said 3-year-old Geoffrey. "It looks like a caterpillar," said Audrey. "I think it's going to be a dragon," dreamed Manuel.
 
After successful installation of the serpent, Hill, Riley and Antosiewicz returned to the chimes project. They assessed available products, and decided they could do just as well, at lower cost. Improving on the design as they worked, they made sure that the sound would be pleasing, and little fingers safe. "We tried to represent as many notes as we could by cutting the cylinders little by little," Hill explains. "We used Anthony's electronic tuning device to measure the notes." Hill's design cost less than 10 percent of comparable, commercially available chimes HFCC had been considering. It uses purchased aluminum tubes for the frame; Hill and Riley located the sound-making stainless-steel cylinders at a local scrapyard. The 6'5" frame for the chimes rest on granite slabs left over from campus landscaping projects. Recently installed, the chimes have been as popular with the children as the serpent. "It looks like a magical harp," explains 4-year-old Emma.

The serpent and the chimes are now a standard part of the day for the more than 50 children who receive childcare services at HFCC. "The children are thrilled with Jerry's creative genius and most appreciative of his awesome contributions," says Driscoll. For Sylvia, who is attending summer camp at the Center, the serpent presents a rich, imaginary realm. "I pretend I'm sitting on the head and gliding through beautiful water," she says.

In his 26 years at the Academy, Hill and his colleagues from the Facilities Management Department have worked on a variety of unusual challenges, including creating an armature for the humpback whale skeleton that hangs in Phelps Science Center and developing a hydraulic mechanism to open the roof of Grainger Observatory. Hill says he's enjoyed all these projects, but the HFCC work was special. "Seeing the kids enjoying the serpent and the chimes is wonderful," Hill adds.

Materials donated by Bobcat of New Hampshire and Facilities Management shops made this money-saving, recycling project possible. Many thanks to all those who helped. Special thanks to Jeffrey Blanchard of Bobcat of New Hampshire for his donation of the serpent's scaly back. 

Interested in learning more?

Read about the Harris Family Children's Center…

Learn more about Phelps Science Center, home to the humpback whale…