School District 170 Students Star at Illinois Robotics Challenge

On April 18th, students from Chicago Heights School District 170’s Washington-McKinley and Wilson Schools Parabot Clubs participated in the 2015 Illinois 4-H Robotics Challenge.

At the event, Washington-McKinley School earned the “Judges Award” for excellence.

The sixth through eighth grade students who participated in the event were Mariela Alvarado, Arial Ayala, Katzeny De Luna and Juan Luis Romero, from Washington-McKinley School; and Jaylin Carter, Helena Hailey, Victor Thomas, and Rodney Terry from Wilson School.

The schools have partnered with the University of Illinois Extension and the 4-H Youth Development and participate in a program that was available to all schools and organizations in the Cook County. The program integrates the 4-H Robotics Curriculum providing students with the opportunity to engage critical thinking in mathematics, science exploration, and programming skills through robotics.

The goals of the program are to build an understanding of basic science concepts related to robotics, to apply the processes of scientific inquiry and engineering design, to use the tools of technology to enhance their learning, explore related careers in these fields, apply the skills and knowledge they are developing to new challenges, and demonstrate teamwork strategies to solve problems.

On May 2, 2015, Washington-McKinley and Wilson, participants will be attending the 7th Annual Illinois 4-H Competition in Champaign, IL. This statewide event is an opportunity for the youth to demonstrate their learning, celebrate their accomplishments, and interact with others who share an interest in robotics.

Participants will demonstrate robot/computer programming (basic, precision and parallel command strings), robot design to accomplish tasks (e.g. use of gears, levers, etc.), field design to accomplish tasks, sensors used within computer program to complete tasks, and teamwork strategies to solve problems.