This weekend, students from age 9 to 16 competed at their FIRST Lego League, or FLL, robotics competition at the Putnam Museum. There were a total of five teams with students from the PV school district at the competition. Two Pleasant Valley Junior High FLL teams won and advanced to the state competition held at Iowa State University on Jan. 19.
However, this wasn’t the only PV representation at the competition, as numerous students from Pleasant Valley High School also competed. These students volunteered at the event and helped with everything run smoothly. PV students are regulars to this sort of robotics competition and there are often many student volunteers at each event.
Students have been highly encouraged by PV to participate in robotics programs. The robotics club at the high school has become more popular and more students have begun to join the class as well. There are so many students involved in robotics at the high school that there are two teams rather than just one. Both teams are very competitive and at least one team has made it to the state robotics meet every year. Grant Housman, an engineering teacher and coach of the PVHS robotics teams, said, “More students are definitely getting involved in robotics and STEM in general.”
Many students have also joined neighborhood teams, which are teams comprised of students from different schools or that are led by a volunteer coach rather than a teacher. These volunteers are usually parents of one of the kids on the team, hoping that this added exposure to the STEM related activity will allow their kids to grow and learn more about engineering as well as the core values that are taught through competition. Varun Vedula, a senior and a member of a neighborhood team, commented, “It’s a way for students to apply science and math outside of the classroom, in a creative and competitive way.”
PV has been very mindful of the huge number of students that are interested in careers in engineering and robotics and have provided many opportunities for these students to gain experience in these fields. Opportunities for PV students are present both through the school and outside of it, and many of them take advantage of those opportunities. PV continues to remain very engaged in STEM activities and their continued involvement in robotics has been a large part of that engagement.
