SCRANTON — Emily Pinto strives to fill a void in the community while offering children an opportunity to explore their creativity and develop valuable skills.
The 26-year-old Dunmore resident founded Steam Town Studio on Ash Street as a space to offer classes, workshops, camps and community events centered on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics.
“I don’t want it to just be sitting and drawing, I want it to be a hands-on, whole-body sensory experience with a lot of learning through play opportunities,” Pinto said. “We’ll be getting messy.”
Pinto, who previously served as the director of an area preschool, looks forward to sharing her passion with the greater community.
“I’ve worked with children in various capacities over the years,” she said. “In college I was a human development major, but I did the lifespan developmental science aspect. I got into research and I was really interested in child development and family dynamics.”
Pinto plans to host the first class – Small Sewing Society – a four-week program on May 22. She also intends to host several workshops throughout May, including one on birdhouses.
A variety of summer camps — on baking, fairies, gardening, dollhouses and more — will begin July 16.
“They all have different themes, but we’ll be dabbling in all the different STEAM elements,” Pinto said. “With Dream House Design, they’re painting their dollhouses but it’s also engineering … they’re working on building their dream house.”
For more information on classes, camps and workshops, visit steamtownstudio.com.
Pinto immediately fell in love with the location and the surrounding Petersburg Corners neighborhood.
“I thought it was the perfect space for me and the children,” she said. “This little corner of Ash Street is such a beautiful block.”
Class sizes will be limited to 10 to 12 students from the beginning, Pinto said.
“It’s important because the kids are able to get more personalized attention,” she said. “I really want to be able to focus on each individual child.”
Pinto hopes to collaborate with local businesses, art teachers or science teachers.
“The local school districts are trying to get some STEM and STEAM opportunities,” she said. “It’s expanding and growing.”
She has also been encouraged by the enthusiasm people showed during an open house Saturday.
“Almost every parent who walked through said how a space like this was so needed for the community,” Pinto said. “They’re very eager to get their children in these sort of camps and extracurriculars because it’s different. A lot of what we’re going to be doing is in nature and the ever-changing canvas of NEPA throughout the seasons.”
Pinto found inspiration for the name of the business from her late grandfather, Thomas Simrell, who worked as an engineer on the Lackawanna Railroad for three decades.
“It was meant to be because my whole program is focused around STEAM and his nickname was Steamtown,” she said.
Erin Keating, Ed.D., Scranton School District superintendent, believes the new business will be a critical asset within the city.
“I looked at the website and it really looks fascinating,” she said. “Any type of project-based discovery or project-based learning gives a child hands-on application to the skills they’ll need to apply at a much higher level when they get into the actual study of science and mathematics. Some of those classes start as young as 3 years old, so giving them that exploratory opportunity is wonderful.”
Keating also stressed the importance of introducing students to a variety of educational experiences at a young age.
“We want to engage kids in the STEM-and-STEAM-based fields early so they have a natural curiosity to explore more, so when we start to give them the higher-end math and science they have the internal quest to want to learn more and be involved in those fields where careers are going to exist moving forward,” she said.
Aprons and paint brushes on the wall in Steam town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Steam Town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Steam Town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A small wooden house, that will be a part of a camp this summer, sits on a table at Steam Town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. Participants will plan and decorate their dream house. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Steam Town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Jars of supplies sit on a shelf at Steam Town Studio on Ash St. in Scranton on Monday, April 7, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)