Student Reflections

"Although Lovejoy High School’s IRHS chapter is relatively new, I believe that we have already been able to make a difference in our community. Our most notable projects so far were a STEM Summer Camp for K-8 graders and hosting a robotics booth at our school spirit night. These were great ways to inspire kids because at both events we had a high school demo area in addition to kid-friendly STEM projects. I think it adds to the excitement and enjoyment for younger students when they are able to see what older students are capable of and then get to try it for themselves. Our IRHS chapter also encourages all members to come up with creative ideas for service projects. I think this is a good way to inspire leadership in all members. While we might not be officers or captains of our robotics team, everyone in IRHS is held to a high standard of leadership through the examples we set and the behavior we promote."

"Our IRHS chapter has made significant progress this year and has made a big impact on our school and community. Our goal as a chapter is to encourage children to be interested in STEM, and we have held many events to reach out and mentor younger students. We held a summer camp for elementary and middle schoolers where the IRHS members volunteered and taught the kids about different aspects of robotics — including building, programming, and driving robots — which I think helped make engineering much more approachable for kids to be interested in. Our chapter also held a booth at Leopard Friday to demonstrate the VEX Robotics game of this year and engage more of our community in engineering and our robotics program. Overall, I have had a great experience in IRHS. Being an IRHS member has allowed me to volunteer for things that I am interested in, and has helped me to develop as a leader and my skills for teamwork and collaboration. Our officers encourage everyone to grow and learn, and have helped to make a difference in our community by promoting STEM."

"I believe a lot of things went very well at the summer camp. As a group leader for the kindergarten group I got to watch the interests in STEM and robotics grow in the kids throughout the course of the week. I think that the entire system went well. By creating classes, the kids were able to experience equal amounts of each topic, giving them time to explore and learn about what they were interested in, but begin to learn about new things as well. I believe it was an amazing experience, for both the students and the volunteers, because I used to visit similar camps a kid, and now because I am so involved in robotics, I can see how these camps shaped my future. I learned to be patient, and that not everything will go right the first time, there were some issues with getting the kids to focus at first, and helping them follow instructions, but after a while we had a system down to help keep them engaged and allow them to interact with others at the same time. I believe camps like the summer camp held at Lovejoy are some of the best ways to get young kids into robotics and STEM fields, so I believe that this camp has had a very positive effect on society, and has created a positive name for Lovejoy Robotics."

"The robotics summer camp was a huge success. The CAD, or Computer Aided Design, classes taught 50+ students how to realize their imaginations in software. It was encouraging that there were many students who said they would be back next year. Not only did the students learn something, but I did as well. I was able to improve my classroom management skills while teaching useful and meaningful skills to future engineers. I was also able to learn how to develop a lesson that could be adapted for the 9 different grade levels represented at our camp. In our district, especially in lower grade levels, there is not much opportunity to engage in STEM related activities. Our summer camp provided the opportunity for students of all ages to dive head first into all facets of STEM."

"Overall I think the summer camp was a good experience for everyone involved. It introduced the kids to different parts of robotics---including design, build, and code. Some kids who already had base knowledge could challenge themselves even more and help other kids who were struggling. As a volunteer, I know how difficult it was to adapt to changes in the original schedule. However, being able to see the kids' final products at the end of the week and watching the tournament was definitely worth it. I was surprised by how much the kids accomplished in one week, and I know that the kids now have the skills and confidence to pursue robotics."

"I really loved how the participants were involved in the robotics camp and had fun while also learning a lot of new skills. I'd say that the robotics camp is a really good initiative in Lovejoy Robotics spreading our love and knowledge of robotics to the younger generation of Leopards. Overall, I enjoyed volunteering at the Robotics Camp, as I love being around kids and using my skills and my knowledge to help them thrive. The Robotics Camp also gave me a chance to know my team more and others in the Robotics organization more."

"I think it went really well. I was volunteering at the free build station with VEXGO parts and the programming station with the VEX123. The best part of the build station was that some kids would stay there for a really long time and they were into finishing what they had started. The programming station was fun, and while it required some explanations to get the kids started, the kids learned pretty fast. I think what made it popular was that you would get candy along the programming routes. Overall it was easy even for little kids to understand and it was great seeing them celebrate after programming correctly. I think the impact it made was that it showcased the fun in building and programming robots and it definitely sparked an interest from kids because the booth was crowded throughout Leopard Friday and there were some kids and parents asking about robotics programs in our district."

"I really enjoyed Leopard Friday! It was very exciting to see the amount of kids and parents who would stop by our booth. We got so many good questions about the robotics program, and many people seemed to show interest towards joining robotics in the future. I took care of watching over the VEX Go Section and the kids loved getting to drive around the mini robots and explore what they could build with our available parts. Overall, I think our booth was very successful as we got a large audience from all age groups, and most seemed to demonstrate a new interest towards engineering."