Wednesday, January 24, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
7
New robotics program for Circle of Friends
By Jodi Schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Programing, or coding, is
taking schools all over the
world by storm. And robotics
is another field that’s able to
inspire kids to learn coding.
“A Lego Robotics work-
shop/program is something
we’ve been trying to get put
together for the mentored kids
since I came on board last
April,” said Nicky Merritt,
Circle of Friends executive
director.
Robotics is a hands-on
learning approach that is
about providing the student
with opportunities to experi-
ment with building things as
a form of problem-solving
through coding.
“Today’s young people
are immersed in technology,
and most of that technology
is intangible and difficult
to conceptualize,” Merritt
said. “The Circle of Friends
kids can connect with robot-
ics quickly because they are
able to touch the robots and
manipulate them directly.
Robotics builds confidence
by building with robots, and
the kids can create their own
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
Bodie Dachtler helping Circle kids with robotics.
devices and gadgets that
interact with the world. The
kids learn to see robotics as
a fun hobby rather than as a
strictly educational activity.”
Last year Circle of Friends
received a grant and the
former executive director
Debbie Newport and Kelly
Davis Martin purchased a few
Lego Robotics Mindstorms
kits.
The kits are a hardware/
software platform for the
development of program-
mable robots based on Lego
building blocks.
Essentially, a robot is a
mechanical device that can
be programmed to follow a
set of instructions.
“Our kits are creative tra-
ditional Lego sets that come
with instruction manuals,”
explained Merritt. “These
instruction manuals will
help set the groundwork for
the kids to build skill and
trust and increase their con-
fidence. The goal is for our
mentored kids to learn to set
aside the instruction manu-
als. Eventually, they will
learn that their own imagina-
tions are the most powerful
‘instruction manuals’ ever to
exist.”
Bodie Dachtler, a seventh-
grader who was on a Lego
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
Nicky Merritt supervising kids learning about robotics.
Robotics team, volunteered
his expertise as facilitator last
Wednesday at the Circle of
Friends Clubhouse to teach
the kids the basic ground-
work for the monthly robotics
program.
“I really enjoy the build-
ing part of robotics and was
in a Lego Robotics program
for three years,” Dachtler
said. “I’ve always liked techy
stuff and I wanted to be on a
Robotics team. So, me and
my mom basically put a club
together, organized meetings
and it grew from there.”
Last year at the Sisters
Science Fair, The Robotics
Club had working displays to
challenge the imagination.
Sisters resident Joan
Upshaw is a mentor to an
11-year-old who is very
excited about the new robot-
ics program.
“He considers himself an
engineer and loves building
things,” Upshaw told The
Nugget.
“We are going to try to
get a core bunch of kids that
have the interest in possibly
competing as we proceed in
the school year we are hoping
their interest grows,” Merritt
said. “We’re hoping that they
will be committing to more
workshops through the sum-
mer to be able to ramp up to
go to the regional competition
in the fall.”