TES starts robotics program
With STEM activities and education on the rise in classrooms, there has also been a rise in the interest in robotics and coding. Tharptown Elementary School is embracing that interest and has formed a robotics club that will be participating in the University of North Alabama’s robotics competition Feb. 24.
Third-grade teacher Brittany Pannell and special education teacher Jake Ward are in charge of the club, which they said has 50-60 participants.
“We’ve gotten a bigger response than we thought we would,” Ward said. “The kids love it.”
He said the idea for the club came from a parent, who suggested it at a parent involvement meeting. Ward said it sounded interesting to him, so he volunteered to help.
Pannell’s mother teaches robotics at a school in Tupelo, Miss., and her class will also be competing in the competition.
“She’s been giving me tips on what the best robots and programs are to use. She’s excited to see me at the competition,” Pannell said.
Pannell said at the competition the children will have three hours to navigate their robot through three different mazes that will be set up. Pannell and Ward will not be able to assist the students in any way once the competition starts.
Students are practicing on and competing with the Dash robot, which is becoming popular in educational settings. The robot is controlled through an app that can be downloaded onto electronic devices; at TES, students are using iPads as their controlling devices.
“We just got the robot in, but we’ve been practicing coding through Hour of Code to help them learn how they will have to control it,” Ward said.
Pannell and Ward will choose six students from each age group (kindergarten; second and third grade; and fifth grade), based on their skill level with the robot and their availability, to attend the competition.
“We really wanted to provide this opportunity for them to experience what the competition is like and learn more about coding,” Ward said.
Students meet at least once a week to practice after school, but Pannell said she also lets them practice during her class when they have spare time.
Both Pannell and Ward gave credit to teachers Jessica Cantrell and Monica Elliott for their help with this new robotics venture and to Principal Kelby Daniel for his support.
