Students in the Advanced Programming class Stefan Gregg, Robert Beaudoin, Morgan Gibson and Madysyn Eaves served as judges for the 3rd grade robotics competition. This gave the high school students the opportunity to be mentors and for  elementary students to gain the knowledge of robotics from experienced students.

“I think the best part of the experience was watching my high school students mentor and encourage the 3rd graders,” programming teacher Amanda English said. “They were excited to share with them all the things they get to look forward to in the next fews years of school.”

During the 3rd grade students’ enrichment class, students worked on robotics and coding with Lego Wedo Robotics. They used the updated 2.0 kits that work with their iPads.

“Students worked daily during class and we had after school sessions to work on our robots,” 3rd grade teacher Sheila Germany said. “Students designed a robot that was part of a business and coded the robot to move and perform tasks. Students also created a board illustrating how the robot was used in the business. Students learned how to work cooperatively in groups, coding, problem solving, and used their writing skills to write a story explaining what their robot did and how it was used in their business. Students kept a detailed journal of their work to illustrate their learning.”

There were four teams of 3rd grade students, and the high school students had the opportunity to talk to the teams about their robots and their displays. At the end of the competition, the high school students gave each team an award based on creativity, programming difficulty, and unique ideas.  

“I was amazed at the knowledge and problem solving skills the 3rd graders had of programming and robotics,” English said. It was evident that Mrs. Germany had gone above and beyond to make sure these students were challenged intellectually and creatively.”