By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Afternoons at Weyerhaeuser Elementary School are when young minds are exposed to some of the intricacies of computer science and engineering as robots take over. In the after-school Robotics Club, students at every grade level work with teachers, computers and robot-building kits. The pupils' completed creations are put theough their paces doing programmable tasks. The fun and educational program is an extension of classroom learning in a field that gives the students a leg up on technology skills that can serve them well in the years to come as they advance through the Eatonville School District and eventually into the workplace, school officials say. Experts note that engineers and scientists often work together, using their knowledge of science, math and engineering to design robotic systems. Graduates need to be able to communicate with each other on a practical and scientific level. Weyerhaeuser's principal, Amy Sturdivant, talked about the Robotics Club in a question-and-answer session with The Dispatch. TD: What's the intent or mission of the club, and also the hoped-for impact on students? Sturdivant: Current reports indicate that there are nearly 2.5 times as many entry-level jobs in computer science as there are graduates to fill those positions. Our robotics program is an extension of work students do during class time to learn computer programming basics. Our hope with the robotics program is to allow students a fun, engaging way to apply the computer science skills they are learning in class and computer lab. Long-term, we're hoping to send our students on to middle school equipped with 21st-century skills and ready for the next step." TD: How many students are involved in the club? Sturdivant: We have just over 60 fourth and fifth-graders participating in on a rotating basis. We're limited by the number of robot kits we have available for use. Beginning in January, an additional 18 to 20 students in first through third grades will begin our junior robotics program, using less complex kits. TD: How is the program paid for?. The robot kits are fairly costly. The Weyerhaeuser Elementary PTA and Avaunt Technologies have made very generous donations that have funded the cost of about three-quarters of our kits. Staff training and some additional kits were funded by school district levy dollars that were allocated to our school. TD: Who works with the students? We have several staff members that work in the robotics program. They are Vince Greco, Shelley Fitzer-Surface, Matt Pederson, Tricia Whitted, and Kim Vander Hoek.
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