FTC brings STEM to rural communities
In rural communities across the country, the access students have to top-notch science, technology, engineering and math is greatly lacking.
According to the National Science Foundation, the average number of both math and science courses available to high-poverty and rural schools is about half that available at urban, suburban and low-poverty schools. To fill this need, more and more parents, educators, and community organizations are turning to the FIRST Tech Challenge to give their students a high-quality, hands-on, STEM experience.
Rural Garner, Iowa, population 3,000, is no exception to towns struggling to provide quality STEM education to their students. While the high school there does offer some science and math courses, they, like courses in so many rural schools, are limited in scope and advanced placement classes are few and far between.
Andrew, a freshman there, first discovered his passion for engineering in fourth grade, when he was invited to participate on the town's 4-H FIRST LEGO League Team.
"I loved the excitement of engineering and the competitions, as well as deciphering which challenge to go after each year," he said.
After four years in FLL, though, Andrew had to move on. Since there weren't great options at his school to keep him on an engineering tack, he decided to try starting an FTC Team. At first he approached his school, but the administration decided not to allow a Team to form.
That's when the aspiring engineer went back to his 4-H FLL coach, Carol Opp, for help. Carol, who is the University of Iowa Extension and Outreach School Outreach Coordinator for Hancock County and is tasked with working with teachers to provide enrichment materials and offer students more hands-on learning experiences, was already heading four FLL teams and was looking for more ways to offer STEM learning.
"Andrew loved everything about FLL, so when he approached me about FTC, it didn't surprise me at all," she said.
Carol took care of the administrative portions of setting up the Team, like registering and ordering the kit of parts, but Andrew took on most of the leadership. He recruited team members for Team 7220, THE BLOCKHEADS, from his school, including his sister and some other student's, a mix of what he calls the "shop kids" and "computer kids", from her senior class.
"I already had an idea of who had what skills, so I basically hand-picked my team," he said.
With a rookie grant from Rockwell Collins and funding from Stellar Industries, a local equipment manufacturer, the Team was up and running for the FTC BLOCK PARTY! season.
Being a rural Iowa town, many of the students on the team live on farms and have all the chores that go with the live style. Andrew, whose grandparents own a stockyard in town, has to help with the raising of sheep and pigs.
This meant THE BLOCKHEADS had to be intentional about balancing time and priorities. They would meet for two hours, twice a week, in Andrew's grandparent's basement.
While time was at a premium for these kids, it was enough. That's because so many of the students had serious mechanical know-how; a byproduct of their agrarian lifestyle. Andrew said the team would come together for a meeting, talk about an idea for a design and have a functioning model assembled by the end of the meeting.
While building came naturally to the Team, they were challenged by the documentation aspect of the program. The engineering notebook was a new aspect to them and it was a challenge, said Carol. They had to learn that engineering is more than just the robot, it's also about the documentation.
They did manage to get their notebook together and their robot design was good enough for a nomination for the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award at their first competition. After some reworking, their robot helped them become the Captain of the Winning Alliance at their second tournament. This accomplishment advanced them to the Iowa Championship, where they finished 14th overall.
"I feel great about our accomplishments, for a first year team, we did really well," said Andrew.
Carol is happy with the program and says it's a good fit for programs like 4-H and that it gives students who aren't challenged enough in school the opportunity to push themselves. She said the community really came together around the Team, the parents were very supportive and there was a lot of pride in the Team.
"They are faced with hands-on challenges where they have to work together as a team to solve a problem and the skills tie into the student's life, regardless of their later pursuits," she said.
With their first season over, THE BLOCKHEADS are already looking forward to next season and are planning to get together with other local FTC Teams in the off-season. Several of the students graduated high school and many of them plan to go into careers in engineering, agricultural business and computer science, where their FTC experience will serve them well. Filling the void won't be an issue, since they already have new students signed up for next season.
"I just know that FIRST is a great idea, kids should be in it and it has helped me personally with my engineering goals," said Andrew.
According to the National Science Foundation, the average number of both math and science courses available to high-poverty and rural schools is about half that available at urban, suburban and low-poverty schools. To fill this need, more and more parents, educators, and community organizations are turning to the FIRST Tech Challenge to give their students a high-quality, hands-on, STEM experience.
Andrew, a freshman there, first discovered his passion for engineering in fourth grade, when he was invited to participate on the town's 4-H FIRST LEGO League Team.
"I loved the excitement of engineering and the competitions, as well as deciphering which challenge to go after each year," he said.
After four years in FLL, though, Andrew had to move on. Since there weren't great options at his school to keep him on an engineering tack, he decided to try starting an FTC Team. At first he approached his school, but the administration decided not to allow a Team to form.
That's when the aspiring engineer went back to his 4-H FLL coach, Carol Opp, for help. Carol, who is the University of Iowa Extension and Outreach School Outreach Coordinator for Hancock County and is tasked with working with teachers to provide enrichment materials and offer students more hands-on learning experiences, was already heading four FLL teams and was looking for more ways to offer STEM learning.
"Andrew loved everything about FLL, so when he approached me about FTC, it didn't surprise me at all," she said.
Carol took care of the administrative portions of setting up the Team, like registering and ordering the kit of parts, but Andrew took on most of the leadership. He recruited team members for Team 7220, THE BLOCKHEADS, from his school, including his sister and some other student's, a mix of what he calls the "shop kids" and "computer kids", from her senior class.
"I already had an idea of who had what skills, so I basically hand-picked my team," he said.
With a rookie grant from Rockwell Collins and funding from Stellar Industries, a local equipment manufacturer, the Team was up and running for the FTC BLOCK PARTY! season.
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| THE BLOCKHEADS at the Iowa State FTC Championship |
This meant THE BLOCKHEADS had to be intentional about balancing time and priorities. They would meet for two hours, twice a week, in Andrew's grandparent's basement.
While time was at a premium for these kids, it was enough. That's because so many of the students had serious mechanical know-how; a byproduct of their agrarian lifestyle. Andrew said the team would come together for a meeting, talk about an idea for a design and have a functioning model assembled by the end of the meeting.
While building came naturally to the Team, they were challenged by the documentation aspect of the program. The engineering notebook was a new aspect to them and it was a challenge, said Carol. They had to learn that engineering is more than just the robot, it's also about the documentation.
They did manage to get their notebook together and their robot design was good enough for a nomination for the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award at their first competition. After some reworking, their robot helped them become the Captain of the Winning Alliance at their second tournament. This accomplishment advanced them to the Iowa Championship, where they finished 14th overall.
"I feel great about our accomplishments, for a first year team, we did really well," said Andrew.
Carol is happy with the program and says it's a good fit for programs like 4-H and that it gives students who aren't challenged enough in school the opportunity to push themselves. She said the community really came together around the Team, the parents were very supportive and there was a lot of pride in the Team.
"They are faced with hands-on challenges where they have to work together as a team to solve a problem and the skills tie into the student's life, regardless of their later pursuits," she said.
With their first season over, THE BLOCKHEADS are already looking forward to next season and are planning to get together with other local FTC Teams in the off-season. Several of the students graduated high school and many of them plan to go into careers in engineering, agricultural business and computer science, where their FTC experience will serve them well. Filling the void won't be an issue, since they already have new students signed up for next season.
"I just know that FIRST is a great idea, kids should be in it and it has helped me personally with my engineering goals," said Andrew.
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