A new Lego robotics mobile kit will move through the Kamloops Thompson School District as another way to teach kids about robotics.

It’s because of a recent $17,500 grant to SD73 from RBC’s Future Launch Program

Elizabeth DeVries, the District Coordinator of Technology, says they’ve already got a few older robotics kits mostly for high school kids.

“We also have one at Brock Middle School, a Lego robotics program, and so I’ve been working with those teachers and students in that program in the past year and a bit to get the other classes and other students in other schools connected into that learning, and having them teach other students,” she said.

Students will spend four to six weeks with these kits, with DeVries noting that robotics helps students develop skills in creative thinking, resiliency, and problem-solving.

Ideally, she says they’ll have a robotics kit in each high school and middle school.

“The funding piece is definitely the tricky factor and then figuring out as the world changes and develops and integrates technology in different ways, where does it become more necessary in our schools,” DeVries said.

“But for sure, I would like to be able to provide access for everyone if it’s something that aligns with the work they’re doing in their schools.”

And it won’t be just students who’ll be doing the learning.

“We’ve had the opportunity to bring some teachers together for learning,” DeVries said. “I’ve got a group of teachers coming together and we’re going to be learning the nitty-gritty basics of the Lego Mindstorms platform and working on that.”

“It’s so that we’re able to build in curriculum and see where it might fit with the work we’re doing with our students.”

(Photo via Elizabeth DeVries)