Friday, January 8th, 2016
Rusty ready to rumble
Local robotics team to compete
By Shelley Grieshop
Photo by Shelley Grieshop/The Daily Standard
Coldwater Middle School students, from left Tate Wenning, Aden Fisher, Austin Ebbing and Derek Hart discuss their strategy for district competition among FIRST Lego League teams at Bowling Green on Saturday. The team, We Will Block You, is the only school robotics team in Mercer County. The nine members qualified for the event after claiming second place at a regional event in Versailles in November.
COLDWATER - The classroom was unusually silent as all eyes were fixated on a small robot with a big mission.
"Don't pick it up yet," instructed sixth-grade science and math teacher Beth Thomas, as a group of Coldwater Middle School students praised "Rusty" the robot Tuesday during a practice run.
The children - fifth- and sixth-graders - are members of Mercer County's only robotics team. The We Will Block You members have for several weeks spent hours after school preparing for district competition at Bowling Green University on Saturday.
The nine-member FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League team qualified for Saturday's event by earning second place at the regional competition in Versailles on Nov. 21. They competed against students in fourth- through eighth-grade.
Coaches for the team are Thomas, county community development director Jared Ebbing and the school district's gifted service coordinator Pat Naveau.
The team was organized earlier this year after Ebbing gathered area educators to gauge interest in a five-day summer FLL camp at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. Several Coldwater teachers and students attended.
"We're always looking for things to stretch kids' interests ... different ways to learn," Naveau said.
FLL is a multidisciplinary program that combines engineering, computer programming, problem-solving, researching, presenting and teamwork. It is a partnership between the LEGO company and FIRST, a nonprofit organization that creates robotic competition programs to inspire children to excel in math and science.
The FLL theme this year is Trash Trek. All competing teams were required to identify a problem about the way trash is made or handled, create an innovative solution and share it with others.
The Coldwater team created a recycling bin that was used this fall for discarded plastic bottles at Cavalier Stadium. Proceeds from the money collected for the recycled items were donated to the new athletic complex project at the stadium.
The team, which designed its own T-shirts for the contests, later built another recycling container to be used at school.
All FLL teams months ago received Lego kits and instructions on how to build and program a robot for competition. They also were required to construct a table and six "trash-related" missions, such as composting and salvaging, for their robot to attempt in 2.5 minutes.
Team members on Saturday must give a presentation on core values, explain their recycling project, discuss their robot design and complete a series of missions per judges' specifications. Teams placing in the top 36 percent will compete at the state level.
Ebbing said the FLL program is much more than just robotics. It's about giving back to the community while learning teamwork, problem-solving, communication and critical thinking.
"That's what's important for their (students') future," he said.
The hands-on skills the children learn will stay with them longer than words in a book, he said.
"If you utilize it, you won't forget it," Ebbing added.
The knowledge they gain will help the students in future careers and can benefit local businesses who need employees with that expertise, he said.
He'd like to see area companies support the FLL team and he hopes more school districts join the program.
"I think we could hold a rookie (robotics) camp right here," Ebbing said.
The cost of the program, so far, has been paid by Coldwater schools, a grant and fundraising by the team, the coaches said.
Ten-year-old Lucas Pohlman said he joined the team to learn robotics with his friends.
"I've learned to cooperate with other people," the fifth-grader said.
He told the newspaper he wants to be an engineer like his uncle.
Student Jillian Ruckman, also a fifth-grader, said she's learned a lot about recycling while doing the project. A recent assessment by the school's guidance department confirmed her future job preference, she said.
"When we did those tests to see what kind of job you'd like to do, mine came up engineer," she said.
Austin Ebbing, 11, Jared Ebbing's son, is one of two robot programmers on the team. He's been a fan of technology for years and also has a plan for his future, he said.
"I'd like to find a technology place to work at, maybe Coldwater Machine," he said, adding he'd eventually like to own his own business.
Submitted Photo
The FIRST Lego League team of Coldwater is all smiles in November after qualifying for district competition on Saturday. First row, from left, is Lucas Pohlman, Kennedy Voskuhl, Jillian Ruckman and Austin Ebbing. Second row, from left, is Nathan Snook, Tanner Muhlenkamp, Tate Wenning, Derek Hart and Aden Fisher.
