Matters of faith played out with LEGOs

We all hope the best for the next generation. This week, a new season of #ScaiPod (also available on Spotify!) is debuting with a look at the unique ways Texans try to get kids excited for their education.

We've talked about kids from across the country who built cars that run on solar power. Some of those schools come every year, so they're building on ideas launched by previous classes to make their cars more resilient or efficient.

Of course, I was an innovator in high school, too, bringing a party sub to German class so we could get to know art students across the hall. In that case, my problem-solving skills likely got our teacher a stern talking to by the administration.

A theme park dedicated to construction has opened in Grapevine.

And the University of Texas at Dallas has been recreated in Lego-form.

UT Dallas commissioned Kurt Zimmerle and Roldan Grace to build the campus out of LEGOs. Zimmerle came down from Michigan with a portion of his 1.5 million LEGOs... but he still had to go shopping for more.

You can hear in Wednesday's podcast (also available on Spotify!) how his associate scoped out the campus and took pictures so they'd know what colors and shapes they need. They used Google Maps to lay out the whole thing to scale.

They wanted to use LEGOs that were true to the campus' color. When they arrived, they had to order more to fill out the project. Plus, they wanted trees that were native to Texas, so they had to create Magnolia trees.

They even built the campus in the order buildings were built in real-life to give UT Dallas a time-lapse of the campus' development over time, complete with construction going on now.

The director of the Center for Retail Innovation and Strategy Excellence says he watched as they created the first building. At the time, he just saw one building on a giant field, but Zimmerle says they finished everything in 360 hours.

The director, David Matthews, says "UTD in Brick" is more than just a display. He says it can show students learning about retail how the commercial environment has changed. You can't just open a store; you have to create an experience.

He says Dallas has a rich history with retail, introducing the world to the Slurpee and shoes that cost a mortgage payment. We'll talk more about that Friday (I'm learning about showmanship, too. That line is what we call a "tease.").

So the LEGO display can teach students how to create something that will draw people in. Marketing students are using the LEGOs to create an experience; they're using technology to measure foot traffic and how many of those people buy something in the gift shop.

Zimmerle has worked as an art teacher, and he says the display can also show students the importance of taking the time to see a project through from your imagination to a finished product without trying to find shortcuts.

The display will move to Galleria Dallas for Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. Then, anti-climatically, Zimmerle says he'll come down, throw the LEGOs into bins and take them home. He says this isn't even his biggest project. He'd previously created both the Dallas and Oklahoma City skylines.

Ever the businessman, though, he does say he'd be happy to negotiate a price if UT Dallas would like to buy their campus.