Schools
New Robotics Lab Unveiled at Lawrence Intermediate
Learning just became a little more fun at Lawrence Intermediate School as its new robotics lab was unveiled at Back to School Night on Oct. 4.
To the cheering of parents, teachers and administrators, the new robotics lab at Lawrence Intermediate School was officially unveiled during Back to School Night on Oct. 4.
The new lab will be used throughout the school year – on a rotating basis by marking period – to allow every fourth-grader and fifth-grader at LIS to learn how to use computers to create Lego robots.
LIS Principal Dave Adam, in a speech prior to the robotics lab’s public ribbon-cutting, said the lab will help prepare students for the future by teaching them 21st century skills.
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“It is showing them with Legos – which they have played with since they were little – what they can do [with computers],” Ivy Cohen, mother to one of the students, said of the new lab.
Karen Rubinstein, technology teacher at LIS, said, “They are really enjoying it. They are learning if their robot is a little off how they can fix it. If one little thing is off, they need to go back to the drawing board. They are willing to do it.”
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Over the course of a year, over 600 students will make use of the robotics lab. Each class has about two dozen students in it, with the students working in pairs to achieve their goals.
School administrators said the robotics program engages the students in higher-order learning and hones their problem-solving skills, all while they are having fun.
The lab was created with funding from the Lawrence Township Education Foundation (LTEF) and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The LTEF provided funding for computers and auxiliary equipment, while Bristol-Myers Squibb funded the robotics end of the project.
“This is similar to the lab that opened last year at the Lawrence Middle School,” said Cohen, who serves as executive director of the LTEF. “We are hoping to build the foundation here and then by the time they get to LMS, the students can be involved with competitions and after-school clubs.”
Learning can and should be fun, administrators said, noting that students who are engaged today are learning skills they will use for the rest of their lives.
