After spending more than three decades educating children, Slippery Rock University alumna Lorraine Shaffer, ’95, retired from teaching at the age of 55. Except, she never really left the classroom.
In 2018, Shaffer was immersed in education once again when she started Kid’s Innovation Playground, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing affordable science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education to local communities outside of traditional school programs.
“That summer I retired, I knew I wanted to do something more and I knew I wasn’t done reaching kids,” Shaffersaid. “We are a beacon on a hill here; there are no other STEAM programs within a 30-mile radius. Most of these kids don’t have access to anything like this and we’re trying to reach the kid who’s not being reached with traditional education.”
Kid’s Innovation Playground, located in Slippery Rock on 204 Spruce Drive, aims to equip rural children with opportunities to explore not only STEAM, but the idea of what Shaffer calls the “growth mindset.” The programs are designed to engage children and focus on learning STEAM skills. Classes, such as Lego Robotics to coding, are combined with social and emotional skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking and the engineering design process.
“All of these programs are giving kids the power to understand the growth mindset,” Shaffer said. “They learn how to work in teams, they learn it’s OK to make mistakes and they start to believe in their potential. We’re trying to give them that feeling of success they might not get elsewhere.”
Since launching, Kid’s Innovation Playground has reached more than 3,500 children and offers a range of weekly programs, many of them free, including Tech Tinkering, Girls Coding with Drones, and high school-focused sessions like “It’s Electric,” where Shaffer’s husband, an electrical engineer, shows students the basics of electricity. Through 65 grants totaling more than $275,000, the initiative has been able to remain affordable, even for families who face financial barriers through lower costs and scholarships.
Shaffer was married at age 19 and earned her degree in elementary education over 13 years while raising children, often taking two to three classes a year. Because of her experience, she understands the value of the opportunity she has created. Shaffer grew up in Butler and credits her SRU education for shaping her philosophy as a teacher.
“SRU has impacted the way I thought about education,” Shaffer said. “Over the years, education has become about standardized tests for students and teachers. I wanted to get back to reaching the kid that doesn’t excel in the traditional classroom.”
Along with helping local children discover their strengths through STEAM, Shaffer’s Kid’s Innovation Playground partners with SRU students, mostly education majors, to provide teaching experience. More than 22 SRU students helped teach at the nonprofit last year. The program has also partnered with Robert Snyder, professor of curriculum, instruction, educational leadership, for events at SRU and collaboration with students.
For Shaffer, Kid’s Innovation Playgrounds is more than STEAM, it’s about providing identity and opportunities for the children who are overlooked in their schools. In communities where sports often dominate youth programming, she believes STEAM deserves a stronger seat at the table.
“How many of those kids playing sports are actually getting scholarships or opportunities?” she asked. “We’ve got kids here building robots, coding and working with all aspects of STEAM. They’re amazing, but they’re not being told they are. They need to feel what that’s like to allow them to grow.”
Now 62, Shaffer plans to step down as executive director at the end of 2026, but she hopes the foundation she has laid continues to grow.
“I want to help change the course of these kids’ lives,” she said. “And I think we have so far.”
