Adding a robot or two to a classroom can make learning more fun. Just ask students in Allegheny Valley School District.
Two teachers at Colfax Upper Elementary and Acmetonia Primary schools received grants in the first round of funding from the Dynamo Education Foundation, a nonprofit created in 2013 to help pay for educational projects in the district. Four grants of $500 each were awarded to teachers for classroom projects.
McCall Malecki received a grant for “Learning with Lego,” a project that uses Lego brand building blocks to help children learn.
Carla Lagattuta’s grant proposal was “Bo & Yana,” a coding and programming project for students.
Both projects involve robots.
Ms. McCall teaches fifth-grade language arts and mathematics and purchased the educational kits. The students have a robotics kit to build different types of robots, a storyteller kit to create scenes that they then write a narrative about, and a Learn-to-Learn kit to build projects based on a curriculum provided by Lego.
“The students love the projects and they are all very relevant to our curriculum,” she said. The funding through the foundation made the purchases possible, she said.
“We know in public education, funds are limited. When I heard the grants were going to be available, I already had the items picked out in my head,” Ms. McCall said.
Kyle Varga, 11, said he has plenty of Lego at home, but not the extra components that are in the educational kits at school.
“I like using the engineering software to make my own cars,” he said.
Kyle is in Ms. McCall’s class for both mathematics and language arts and has used the kits for both studies. The storytelling was so much fun that Kyle had to be prompted by Ms. McCall to remember it was a lesson.
“I built a giant frog and got to play with my friend’s frog. It was so much fun — we wrote ‘Frogs are Fun,’ ” Kyle said.
Ashton Krebs, 10, studies math with h Ms. McCall.
“We get to build different things and it is fun because I don’t have to always do what the directions say,” he said.
What has he learned so far?
“Some stuff you do have to follow directions,” he said.
The best part for Ashton has been building robots.
Mrs. Lagattuta teaches computer science and technology at Colfax and at Acmetonia. She is using robots to help the students learn basic programming skills.
“I found these robots geared for students as young as 5 and I was intrigued because I thought it would be a great introduction for my younger students,” she said.
But like Ms. McCall, she thought the costs would make the purchase prohibitive.
“I was excited to receive the grant. These are great,” she said of the four robots she purchased.
“I hope this great opportunity is available again so we can get more,” she said. “Knowing that I can do something this innovative and special for the students is wonderful.”
Two other projects received funding.
“Engaging and Innovating Students Through Technology,” which uses iPad minis, is headed by Hedy Mills, a sixth-grade teacher at Colfaxs.
“Using TinkerBots to Incorporate STEAM Programming in the Elementary Library Program,” which aims to encourage creativity, collaboration and a love of science and robotics, is under the direction of librarian Leigh Shamey. TinkerBots also are snap together building tools with a robotic component.
“We wanted to find a way to help teachers with projects that will enhance learning that they wouldn’t be able to fund without the grants,” said Scott Grumski, president of the foundation and a graduate of the district’s Springdale High School.
Mr. Grumski said the foundation was created to assist teachers with shrinking funds and to take learning one step further at Allegheny Valley, which serves Cheswick, Harmar and Springdale.
“It is no secret that funding is getting harder and harder to find,” he said.
The teachers submitted applications that the members of the foundation then reviewed and selected for funding.
“We were really impressed with their projects. They really did their research and knew exactly what materials they needed and why they needed them,” Mr. Grumski said.
All of the projects are “very technology based,” he said, and that made them attractive to the board.
The foundation raises funds through individual donations, raffles and other projects and hopes to increase its fundraising efforts.
“We are trying to expand and look to raise more money. We are looking at legacy grants, looking to local business sponsors and other ideas,” Mr. Grumski said.
Kathleen Ganster, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: March 6, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
