CASA GRANDE — The Casa Grande Union High School robotics team already has a busy season underway.
On Saturday, the team attended a workshop for educators at Arizona State University. Attending the workshop with the team as a guest was Desert Willow Elementary School Principal Melissa Pieper.
Students from the robotics team plan to team up with Desert Willow later this year to bring a robotics program to the elementary school.
John Morris, engineering and math teacher at CGUHS and robotics team coach, said that initial inquiries showed that more than 40 students at Desert Willow would be interested in a robotics program.
“Our robotics team members will sponsor the elementary school teams this first year and act as mentors and coaches for the elementary school teams,” Morris said. “CGUHS robotics team parent Mrs. Jess Buchanan will be organizing the parents of the elementary school teams into a booster club to support their program going forward.”
CGUHS robotics team members plan to travel to Desert Winds at least once a week after school to meet with their teams.
“We estimate that we may be sponsoring up to six robotics teams at the elementary school,” Morris said. “Our long-term goal is to establish robotics teams throughout CGESD.”
Starting teams in the elementary school will establish a “feeder” system of students who will eventually enter CGUHS ready to join the robotics team or other science, technology, engineering and math programs, Morris said.
CGUHS’s robotics team takes part in robotics competitions statewide each year where they design, build and compete with robots. The students also attend the annual Arizona SciTech Festival and Conference each year.
Retrieved from: Reports, Staff. “CGUHS Robotics Team Plans to Reach out to Elementary School Students.” PinalCentral.com, 21 Aug. 2018, www.pinalcentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/cguhs-robotics-team-plans-to-reach-out-to-elementary-school/article_fc1f067c-cb09-55aa-b7b8-570a9e033b9e.html.
