Greensburg Elementary third, fourth and fifth graders learned that it was okay to learn differently at the “Show Your Spark” event at the school on Wednesday.

The program taught the kids about learning differences like attention deficit disorder and dyslexia, and provided information on the Website www.sparktop.org, which is free to kids and teachers. It talks about ways of learning, provides suggestions and provides a place to create things like paintings, music and games. SparkTop is one of the largest free educational Web portals in the country, program coordinator Bob Levy explained.

The Website features comic strip icon Garfield and teens with learning difficulties. It offers strategies and tips for dealing with homework and social interactions and helps kids recognize their unique strengths and talents.

On hand to help the kids understand the program and Website was “Spark Rob,” who talked about his personal battle with dyslexia beginning in first grade. When he began to notice he was having problems, he said his “flight or fight” response kicked in and he hid assignments and avoided work. It would have been best, he noted, to have told his teacher right from the beginning instead of running away from his problem and hiding homework.

“If you have a problem, share it,” Spark Rob encouraged the kids.

When he was confronted in elementary school about his learning disability, he explained to his teachers and parents that he simply could not write what he knows. He later found out that he had a superior intelligence, but dyslexia was stopping him from utilizing his full potential.

Once the problem was identified, Spark Rob began to work with different teachers and used different methods, but remained embarrassed about his difference and worried what his friends might think if they were to find out.

When he finally did let his friends know, it turned out to be a non-issue. Looking back, Spark Rob said he wished he had a tool like SparkTop when he was a kid.

Before the close of the program, Spark Rob broke through two pieces of wood using only his fist. He told the kids he was able to do so because he concentrated on the solution to pass through the problems in his way.

“No two brains spark alike,” he said.

SparkTop.org was originally created by Schwab Learning, formerly a program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation. In January of 2008, the Professor Garfield Foundation was selected to take care of the SparkTop.org site. Professor Garfield is a joint collaboration between creator Jim Davis, Ball State University and Davis’ creative studio, Paws, Inc.