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Elementary Students Help WATC Robotics Team Make a Little Noise
(Posted: October 12, 2006) (Printable Version)
The robotics team from the Western Arkansas Technical Center at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith reached out to a group of elementary school students as part of their team strategy in getting ready for the Oct. 21 River Valley BEST robotics competition. The results might be just a bit noisy.
WATC students went to Pike Elementary in Fort Smith for a bit of assistance with their noisemakers, but they had other things in mind as well. In addition to the elementary students helping the WATC students, the WATC students also made a point of helping the Pike students.
The high school enrollees in WATC took time during the noisemaker construction to tell about themselves, how they came to be in college classes at UA Fort Smith while still in high school, and encouraged the youngsters to go to college as well.
Mary Renick, WATC assistant director, said each WATC student was paired with an elementary school student.
“The WATC student visited one-on-one with the Pike student,” Renick said, “and hopefully got the message across about going to college so that each child would then know it was possible to do that, too. And, both sets of students had a lot of fun as they made the noise makers.”
Teams in the robotics event are judged on several categories, including one which involves team spirit and sportsmanship. The competitors use radio-controlled robo9ts to beat out other schools and advance to a regional competition, also hosted by UA Fort Smith. The opening ceremony is at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 21 in Stubblefield Center. Admission is free and open to the public.
The UA Fort Smith competition is one of several around the nation under the BEST heading, which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology.
“Enthusiastic” could describe how WATC students felt about their time with the Pike students, according to Debbie Banos of Hackett, spirit leader for the WATC BEST team.
“Working with the kids from Albert Pike Elementary made me realize that what we are doing will actually impact the community,” said Banos, who is a student at Hackett High School and is WATC’s pre-engineering program.
WATC students who went to Albert Pike School to make noisemakers were:
Alma: Rebecca Carolan of Alma High School, Meredith McCabe of Van Buren High School, and Brittany Powell of Mulberry High School, all WATC early childhood education majors.
Booneville: Katie Carter, County Line High School, a WATC health sciences major.
Branch: Zachary Wurst, County Line High School, WATC graphic design major.
Cedarville: Tracey Whitsett, Cedarville High School, WATC health sciences major.
Charleston: Sydnie Hamilton, County Line High School, WATC health sciences major; and Kaylie Gilsinger, Charleston High School, a WATC early childhood education major.
Fort Smith: Chasity Huddleston, Southside High School, WATC electronics major; Yessenia Esparza, Amy Rojas, and Chelsi Sims, all from Northside High School and all WATC early childhood education majors; Shannon Kertesz, Greenwood High School, WATC early childhood education major; and Arlene Petty, Southside High School, WATC early childhood education major.
Greenwood: Loren Brazle, Greenwood High School, WATC early childhood major.
Hackett: Debbie Banos, Hackett High School, WATC pre-engineering major.
Magazine: Alice Lemmond, J.D. Leftwich High School, WATC early childhood education major.
Mansfield: Sarah Key, Mansfield High School, a WATC health sciences major.
Rudy: Brittney Van Matre, Cedarville High School, a WATC health sciences major; and Keshia Testerman, Cedarville High School, WATC early childhood education major.
Van Buren: Colton Vollmer, Van Buren High School, a WATC CADD major; Jessica Nichols, Ashley Peters, and Kendra Tedford, all Van Buren High School and all WATC early childhood education majors.
The visit to Pike was one of several efforts WATC students made to reach out to the community as they prepared for the Oct. 21 robotics contest. Travis Brown, UA Fort Smith graphic design instructor and WATC BEST adviser, stated that the spirit team has done an exemplary job of reaching out to our competitors from the different communities.
“I would have jumped at the chance to build and operate a robot in high school,” Brown said, “and now I get to watch these WATC students do just that. But, BEST shows students that character and sportsmanship are much more important than winning.”
Students also invited members of the other 14 teams from the area to a computer-aided drafting and design workshop held at UA Fort Smith. Teams in the competition also had an opportunity to use a practice playing field on the UA Fort Smith campus. The WATC BEST team also hosted a Halo 2 tournament, where students play a video game designed for the Xbox console.
Other area teams competing Oct. 21 are Alma High School; Booker T. Washington High School from Tulsa; Cedarville High School; Chaffin Junior High in Fort Smith; First Lutheran in Fort Smith; Northside High School in Fort Smith; Gans High School, Gans, Okla.; Greenwood High School; J.D. Leftwich High School, Magazine; Kimmons and Darby Junior Highs, Fort Smith; Lavaca High School; Mulberry/Pleasant View High School, Mulberry; Ozark High School; Ramsey Junior High in Fort Smith; and Southside High School, Fort Smith.
The Western Arkansas Technical Center at UA Fort Smith is an area secondary center serving a five-county area of Western Arkansas. It provides high school juniors and seniors with an opportunity to earn college credit in a variety of fields while they are still in high school.
| Article by: Sondra LaMar, Director of Public Relations | |
| Photo(s) by: Mary Renick, Assistant Director, Western Arkansas Technical Center |
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