When Anna Clark talks about robotics, her eyes brighten and her facial expressions get more animated. She says she first learned about robotics during a STEM expo at Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts, where she recently finished eighth grade. The expo included a First Lego League robot game field setup, which is a mat spread out on a table upon which mission modules constructed of Legos are used to complete challenges. Anna, then 9 and a longtime fan of Legos, decided to sign up for robotics camp that summer. From then on she was hooked.
She says she wants to be an electrical engineer, and thinks her experience with robotics will help her to breeze through anything related to technology or programming in school.
“I can’t wait to learn calculus to learn how the stuff we’re doing works,” says Anna, who’s now a ninth grader at STEM School Chattanooga.
Not every child exposed to robotics experiences love at first sight like Anna, but the folks behind Tennessee Valley Robotics want every child in Hamilton County public schools to have the opportunity. In the next four years they hope to bring robotics to every Hamilton County school, expanding beyond the 20 schools they are working with so far.
The nonprofit organization provides the materials, equipment and training to teachers who are interested in incorporating robotics into their classrooms. Funding comes from Volkswagen and BVI, a nonprofit organization for TVA retirees, says Charley Spencer, TVA retiree and Tennessee Valley Robotics treasurer. Training is provided by Scott Rosenow, a teacher at CSLA who’s trained 16 teachers in robotics.