You could practically feel the energy in the air during the Super Science and Amazing Art presentation at the Palmerton Area Library on Friday, and it's not just because of the electric circuit demonstration that captured the crowd's attention.

Kicking off the library's summer reading program, the class, taught by Cathy Seachrist, jam-packed the room with 136 kids and adults with a passion for science and showmanship. This year's summer reading theme is "Build a Better World," which the kids were encouraged to do through teamwork, responsibility and conservation."Being able to draw a group, K-6 - some of them were seventh- and eighth-graders, actually - to be able to keep the attention of all of those age groups at once, and just make it fun, silly and goofy, it makes science more approachable for them," Seachrist said.Highlights included the demonstration of a complete circuit, where kids in the crowd were offered a small ball with contact points that, when touched simultaneously, illuminated the toy. Several science fanatics held hands to create a circuit that stretched over groups of five students and more, alternating between a complete circuit and a broken chain to get a visual representation of the energy flow."I liked the part with the ball. When you would touch it, it would glow, and if you touched someone else it would glow and make a sound. I think that was pretty cool. I learned about how energy works, and how a closed or open circuit works," Gwen Shellhammer, 11, said.Later on, two teams were tasked with building the strongest bridge they could to traverse the span of two wooden chairs. The kids began with a drafting and planning phase, and then "purchased" materials - spaghetti and gumdrops - from Seachrist's store, with a budget of $400. After constructing their bridges, Seachrist tested their strength by filling a bag on the structure with markers."To build a better world, we need to work together," Seachrist said. "When you guys get into a group setting, and you're trying to work on one thing, it's very important to listen to every person in your group."One group's structure was able to take on a ton of markers - in fact, Seachrist ran out of weights before the bridge buckled."Two hundred! That must be a record," she said as the kids cheered in the crowd.Library Director Diane Danielson said that Seachrist's program is always a great success, combining education and entertainment to capture the kids' imaginations."We've had Miss Cathy before, and she's always a big draw, because kids love science and experiments," Danielson said. "I love her enthusiasm, making science fun. It's not just something they have to study in school, it's actual hands-on things they can do. And I like that she talks about things they can do at home, too, so the kids can take what they learn, go home, and try to build their own spaghetti bridge."While the groups worked on their bridges, Seachrist enchanted the rest of the crowd with the help of volunteer Faith Dunbar, 6, who got to play a wizard with a magic hat and wand. Seachrist demonstrated how, with the simple tap of the wand, Dunbar could make a sauce packet rise and sink in a bottle of water."I got to wear the hat, and I got to make the sauce packet float up and down. I like that I got to learn," Dunbar said.Of course, the real magic at play was air, with Seachrist providing a gentle squeeze that would adjust the pressure in the bottle, causing the packet to rise and fall. But the easy-to-replicate nature of the experiment was exactly what she was aiming for, encouraging the kids to experiment on their own at home."Every time we come to one of these, she takes the experiments home, and we do them with her dad. I'm excited to do that," Dunbar's grandmother, Stephanie, said.As the satisfied crowd exited the room, Seachrist said that she revels in the opportunity to impart some scientific knowledge to the kids, and that the enthusiasm she witnessed in Friday's class was exactly what motivated her to keep the program going."The kids being excited, drawn in, wanting to do more, not wanting it to end, is definitely what draws me to keep doing it. That, and I'm a ham, so I like performing," she said with a laugh.For videos of the bridge-building project and the circuit exercise, visit the Times News Lehighton Facebook page.