Second in a series: Meet a future aqua biologist, architect, illustrator and electrical engineer
This is the second set of interviews with Bluffton third graders. Interviewed with teacher’s name listed: Ethan Beach (Beth Raeburn), Lauren Gray (Andy Armstrong), Nathan Kupferer (Ann Kingsley) and Ayden Cupples, (Janelle Bogart).
What book series are your reading at the moment – and tell me a little about it.
Lauren: Daisy Meadows. It’s about two girls who are friends with fairies. There are at least 20 to 30 books in the series. In each book the fairies lose something and the goblins take it away and the fairies have to get to back.
Ethan: I just finished a book before Christmas. I like every book.
Nathan: Geronimo Stilton books. It’s about mice who go on adventures. In one book they go to Mongolia. They live on a big mouse island. There are about 40 books and I’ve ready between 10 and 20 of them.
Ayden: Diary of a Wimpy Kid. There are seven.
Ethan: I’ve read six.
Ayden: I read them over and over again. I have a lot of them at home.
What’s your favorite?
Ayden: When he gets stuck in the women’s bathroom for two hours. (Everyone laughs)
Do you ever think about what you want to do after you graduate from high school?
Ethan: I want to be an aqua biologist. I like fish and stuff in the sea. I study fish and animals and read books about them.
Lauren: I want to be an architect. I like to draw houses and design condos. Sometimes these have lots of rooms. I first draw them on a sheet and then redo them to make it look better. Sometimes I create buildings that are five stories.
Nathan: I want to be an illustrator or an artist. I color. I could draw a whole book if I wanted. Currently they would have stick people and in a couple years I’d actually change them when I get better at it. I might create comic books. I’d use characters from books that I read.
Ayden: I’d like to be an electrical engineer. I like taking things apart and then put them back together – sometimes in different ways than what they looked like at first. I do a lot of this with Lego’s.
(The mention of Lego’s brought out immediate comments from everyone. Too much so to take complete notes.)
For instance, I’d take a Lego set that’s a cannon and make it into a computer – the computer wouldn’t work, however. Sometimes I’d add extra Lego’s to it.
Ethan: I like all kinds of Lego’s.
Lauren: I sort them in piles by color.
Nathan: I build Lego sets non-stop when I get home from school until dinner.
Lauren: I build huge apartments.
Ayden: I build things this big (his hands spread apart about two feet).
(My notes doesn’t show who said this): I have probably 5,000 pieces.
Nathan: I make a set from a book at school with, like 50 characters.
Lauren: I build hotels or a café.
Ethan: My older brother, he’s 11 and will be 12 in May, likes to make broken down factories.
I see we can talk about Lego’s all day. Let me ask you a question about food. What’s your favorite food in the school cafeteria?
Lauren: Spaghetti. I really like the sauce.
Ethan: I don’t know.
Nathan: Popcorn chicken and corn dogs.
Ayden: Popcorn chicken. Nothing else really satisfies me.
Can you name your favorite sports team?
Lauren: (immediately) The Green Bay Packers. I was born in Wisconsin…Appleton. I’m a big fan of cheese. Laughing cow cheese is made there.
Nathan: The Chicago Cubs. I follow them, so does my dad and his dad.
Ayden: Anything in Cleveland. The Browns, usually. I’ve been there a couple times. When I can’t go I watch them on TV.
Do you spend much time on the computer?
Lauren: None. I use an iPod or watch TV.
Ethan: Maybe five hours a day.
Nathan: Not really. I prefer my DS (stands for Dual Screen). It has games and I can talk with my friends.
Ayden: Our computer broke. I use an iPod.
When you go to Cedar Point, what ride is your favorite?
(Long pause)
Lauren: I can’t name my favorite, but I can my second favorite. It’s Thunder Canyon. I’ve ridden it about three times.
Ethan: I don’t know, probably roller coasters.
Nathan and Ayden didn’t comment.
Okay, before you go, tell me your favorite movie or TV show.
Ayden: That’s easy. Ernest movies.
Nathan: Star Wars.
Lauren: Madagascar 3.
Ethan: Star Wars.
Thank you very much for talking with me. Now I’d like to take your picture and then you may go back to class.
Stories Posted This Week
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 14
- CANCELLED Main St. closure on October 15
- Frederick Clyde Warren founded True-2-Form Plastics
- October 14 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- Pirate boys soccer beats Wapak in regular season finale
- Pirate girls soccer defeats Liberty Center
- Mennonite pastor to explore ‘good news’ in creation
- Bluffton University earns recognition in U.S. News & World Report rankings
- Obituary for Deborah "Debbie" Welch, 74
- Spirits and exorcism presentation during University Spiritual Life Week Forum
- Dodging bullets: Bluffton oral history 90+ years after Dillinger robbery
- Nora Matthews named BHS Student of the Month for September 2026
- ICAPP analysis on charter status and local autonomy
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, October 13
- Bluffton area Women in Business meeting October 15
- Leo club glasses collection
- Night at the (Swiss Historical) Museum, October 24
- Woodcarving ornament workshop at Swiss Heritage Center
- Barefoot nature walks at the Nature Preserve
- Pirate volleyball seeded 4th
- Beavers sports roundup, October 6-11
- Bluffton leaf pickup scheduled for last week of October
- Pirate boys soccer shuts out Bellefontaine
- Watch an after school movie at the Bluffton Public Library
- Dunlap awarded OSBA humanitarian award