As the parents walked in with their children, I greeted them, trying to act confident. All of the parents seemed a little bit skeptical. Once the 10 students arrived, I began the class, introducing myself as well as the volunteers. A robotics kit was passed out to every student. Some stared at it blankly, while others immediately opened it up and fiddled with the parts.
As I began instructing the students, the volunteers guided them with the hands-on part of it, building a frog. The parents watched as their kids immersed themself in the build, giving all of their efforts. Each student was paired with one volunteer. As I conducted the class, I saw the volunteers talk with the students, laugh with them, and ultimately form relationships with them.
1 hour had passed.
We were conducting the final step of the build. Everyone placed the final piece on their build, connected the final wire, and placed their product on the table, wondering how the heck this thing in front of them was going to move. The volunteers guided them in opening the programming application and creating a simple program.
They all pressed the “run” button on their application.
One by one, the frogs started hopping forward. The students’ faces lit up, amazed at how they had just brought some pieces of plastic to life. The parents looked at their joyful and engaged children, amazed at how focused they were.
Afterward, some parents thanked me for everything and exclaimed how much their child loved the class. It felt good to make such a direct impact on my community. I especially liked seeing the effects of my efforts in action.
While we are putting the classes on hold due to the coronavirus situation, I look forward to continuing this class with my circle of volunteers and parents. I am super excited to see these kids thrive in the world of science and grow to love robotics!