Given the success of the Pine Belt Robotics Academy’s recent summer camps, officials from that organization have planned an upcoming series of fall camps designed to promote STEM skills, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking for young children, even outside of school.
Registration is now open for the camps, which will begin Sept. 8 and will be held at the academy at 5268 Old Highway 11, Suite 9 in Hattiesburg. The program – which is open from kindergarten through sixth-grade students – is led by Nadine Amaya, the 2018 Mississippi VEX IQ Elementary Teacher of the Year and 2017 VEX IQ World STEM Hall of Fame Teacher of the Year.
“All of those (summer camps) had tremendous support and interest, and we had a huge success, so I’m looking forward to the fall classes filling up rather quickly,” Amaya said. “More students that had never been exposed to the robotics academy came this summer, so the word is getting out better.
“Even though we had COVID and the groups were small – eight to 10 most of the time – in the classes, we had students coming from, I think, all the private schools in our area. And most of the public schools in the area (came as well) – Petal, Oak Grove and Sumrall. We even had some students come from Collins and Laurel this year, so I feel like the word’s getting out better and the interest is growing.”
Building on that, and based on interest expressed by parents, Amaya is offering a class for kindergarten through second grade students as a pilot program to gauge how that age group embraces the STEM concepts with robotics. Amaya also will be using the new curriculum that the VEX Robotics program recently released called VEX 123, which features an interactive, programmable robot that can be used with a tablet for various activities.
“We’ll be able to teach them some computer science basics using a robot that they don’t actually have to build themselves,” Amaya said. “But I’ll be able to give them smaller building challenges, rather than building an entire robot like the other classes.
“So I’m excited about that; that’ll be pre-K through second grade. I’m only offering the one class in the fall to see how it goes, and then if it goes well, then I’ll expand offerings for that age group in the spring.”
Amaya also will utilize a new program called VEX GO, which is a building and programming system that was adapted from another VEX IQ system that is currently being used for the older students. That program is suitable for second- through fourth-graders, so it will be incorporated in with the other curriculum to determine which age groups are more appropriate for VEX GO and which are more appropriate for VEX IQ.
“There’s a lot of exciting new things that VEX has come up with that I’ll be experimenting with and using this year,” Amaya said.
Participants can view class options and register online at pinebeltroboticsacademy.com, with a $75 registration fee to secure a spot. The code SAVE25 can be used to save $25 off the registration fee for those who register before Aug. 25.
The camp features one session per week and is $100 per month for kindergarten through second grade and $150 per month for all other classes. Previous students can email pinebeltroboticsacademy@gmail.com for a discount code, and second- and fourth-graders may choose younger or older classes.
“I’m hoping that all the classes will have at least six to eight registered by Aug. 25; that’s my early enrollment target date,” Amaya said. “Some people have already started taking advantage of the (early registration discount) this week, so I’m expecting to have anywhere from 50 to 70 participants registered, hopefully, by Aug. 25.
“And I don’t have the schedule worked out yet, but I’m also going to be offering some Saturday STEM sessions for kids during the fall that I’ll be advertising on Facebook and the website. That’s for kids that can’t make the commitment to weekly classes, but are interested in STEM activities; we’ll have some special, one-time events for them.”
Safety precautions will be taken to avoid any potential spread of COVID-19, including social distancing and disinfecting surfaces.
“That’s what we did in the summer camps, and it was hugely successful,” Amaya said. “I have enough space to be able to spread the students out in a safe distance, with the tables and the desks that I have for them when they’re doing those learning activities.
“When they’re actually using the robots on the robotics field, we’re able to space them on either side of the field, because it’s an 8-foot-long field. We have sanitizer and disinfectant spray, so we can clean in between sessions and classes as well.”
