RobotLab ready for Jackson County students
Story By Peggy M. Himburg
There is much enthusiasm about the RobotLab at the Kevin Dukes Career and Innovation Academy. This amazing new classroom will be available for every seventh and eighth grader in the Jackson County School District. Students will engage with robots of all sizes, operate robotic arms, and explore the world of coding.
This classroom with cutting-edge technology is made possible through a $150,000 grant from Boeing. Ashley Lee, Curriculum and Instruction, was responsible for writing the grant. It took much research and about a year to get this done. The classroom was established over the summer, and even the walls are wrapped in technology symbols and icons.
“We are opening doors to futures our students haven’t even imagined yet,” said Lee. “Jackson County Schools deeply appreciate the incredible partners who helped make this state-of-the-art science lab a reality.”
Gus Hembree, who teaches the STEM classes for middle school at KDCIA, is very excited about this opportunity for Jackson County students. “This opens up a whole new world for our students,” said Hembree. “We want our students to feel comfortable with this new technology. It is an experience for our changing world.”
“We hope this will help change people’s view on what Career Tech is today,” added Hembree. “This early exposure helps our kids. I am proud our kids have an opportunity that other kids don’t have.” He says this will prepare the students for good-paying jobs in Jackson County, so they can work, live, and be good citizens in their home county.
Drew McNutt, principal at KDCIA, said, “We are excited about this opportunity for our students. It provides early exposure for middle school kids. This is an opportunity our students have never had. We are giving the next generation experiences to prepare them for the new age.”
This RobotLab at KDCIA is the only completed one is the state of Alabama. This is thanks to the constant hard work of those seeking to improve Career Tech for Jackson County students.
Students will be working with Pepper Robot, Marty Robots, Dobot Magician EDU Edition Arms, Zumi Rovers and School Mats, and Kai’s Clan. Pepper is a human-shaped robot designed to recognize faces and emotions, interact through conversation, and assist with learning activities. This makes technology engaging and approachable for the students.
Marty Robots are walking, dancing, and coding-friendly humanoid robots that help students learn programming and robotics concepts through interactive movement. Marty has a unique personality that allows for an expressive little robot. His friendly face and personality help young people engage in activities and become more comfortable when learning new technology. While exploring with Marty, students are developing more than just their coding skills, they are supported to become collaborators, creative thinkers, problem solvers, computational thinkers, and digital leaders of the future.
Dobot Magician EDU Edition Arms are precision robotic arms designed for education. They are capable of 3D printing, laser engraving, writing, and picking/place tasks to teach automotive and engineering skills.
Zumi Rovers and School Mats include AI-powered mini self-driving cars paired with road-map mats to teach programming, navigation, and machine learning concepts.
Kai’s Clan is a group of collaborative coding robots that combine augmented reality, 3D environments, and real-world robot movement to encourage teamwork and creativity in problem-solving. It comes equipped with Android tablets, student desktop computers, Android phones, and much more. Everything needed for this incredible opportunity is provided in the new RobotLab classroom at KDCIA.
