Ballston Spa fourth, fifth and sixth graders participated in a LEGO Robotics Academy.
Ballston Spa students participated in a week-long LEGO Robotics Academy at the Ballston Spa High School.
Members of the school’s FIRST Robotics Competition Team 3044, OxBe4, offered the academy as part of their efforts to get fourth, fifth and sixth grade students involved in STEM activities. The intent of the program is to expand the students’ creative interests in LEGO building while also peaking their technological curiosity. Students worked with their peers in teams and learned how to construct as well as program robots utilizing LEGO Mindstorms kits.
The LEGO Robotics Academy, which is an annual fundraiser for Team 3044, helps high school students develop their communication and leadership skills as they work with the younger students.
The week culminated with the students demonstrating what they learned for their parents and friends as they earned their EV3 Robotics License. Many of the students who attended the program will now participate on FIRST LEGO League Robotics teams in the Ballston Spa schools this coming fall.
FIRST Robotics has designed a pipeline of programs for school age students to help inspire them to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills that inspire innovation and that foster self-confidence, communication and leadership.
More information on the program is available by contacting Diane Irwin at the Ballston Spa High School at 518-884-7150 or at dirwin@bscsd.org.