Robotics Inspires STEM Education
Why Robots?
The future is technology. In any society students must be equipped with more than just a basic education. Working in a resource-poor country it takes creativity to get students on a competitive skill level with the rest of the developed world. Focusing on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects can help to set students up with the skills they will need to find a job. Using robots, students are able to learn skills such as creativity, logic, problem solving, team work and the use of technology. It is a higher thinking activity. The Robotics competitions that our students work with are all about solving world problems, adding in a much larger and more important component to the work.
What are We Doing?
- LEGO Mindstorm Robotics: Originally started by volunteer Sandy Carey at our bilingual school in 2017. This initiative has since expanded. In 2022 we donated our initiative to the regional mayors association, AMFI, to increase sustainability. However, we continue assisting in training teams for the chosen challenge every year. In 2023 we introduced the participation of pre-K and Kinder students in LEGO construction competitions, igniting more interest in robotics.
- VEX Robotics: Another type of robotics took off in 2021. VEX is more coding based compared to our other robotics programs. We have slowly trained VEX mentors, who were FIRST Global alumni, and expanded our program. We held our first competition in 2023.
- FIRST Global robotics competition: While this program is retired, alumni of this program continue being involved in robotics and STEM education. We are truly grateful for our trajectory.
Read more about our ongoing robotics activities on our blog and Facebook page.