Townsend And Broadwater Students Participate In The Stoke Program
Author: Matt Nelson
Matt Nelson
Townsend / Broadwater County is fortunate to have the STOKE program for both Junior High and Senior High school students. Quoting from the Stoke Montana website https://stokemt.org/ the objective is “To provide opportunities that will inspire and nurture the human spirit, one kid at a time. Designed by kids and adults, STOKE is a youth program for those seeking an inner change as well as practical life skills. We hope to grow their passion for the outdoors and our community.
SCIENCE – Use evidence-based curriculum and research to incorporate science and practical math into all outdoor activities.
TECHNOLOGY – Enhance practical computer literacy by using management and industry-standard computer applications during our outdoor programming.
OUTDOORS – Inspire a passion for Montana’s wide array of WORK-PLAY programs by offering and promoting outdoor activities.
KNOWLEDGE – Planned by youth and adult mentors, host activities that expand knowledge of innovative opportunities in nature and occupations in Montana.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP – Create opportunities in outdoor entrepreneurship that include: marketing, public relations, tourism, stewardship, and natural resource conservation.”
There are two very impressive classes at The Lodge of Townsend that combine LEGO and robotics. They meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The 6th to 8th-grade students are in the FIRST© LEGO© League, which introduces STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) to them. They have two teams building the robotic devices, with each team having a topographical map on a 4-foot by 8-foot piece of plywood showing where the robots can go. The two pieces of plywood lay next to each other on the floor, but robots are allowed to cross over. They range in size from about 4 inches to about 10 inches, may have extending forklift tongs, drive motors, rotating wheels, etc. Some are shaped like trailers; some are shaped like a cube. The students control the robots via a laptop computer. LEGOs constitute the majority of the robot frames.
The FIRST© Tech Challenge is for 9th through 12th Grade students. It is still early in the season, so this reporter did not see any LEGOs being used in their projects, but did see some devices being built with metal frames, with electrical plugs and extensive wiring. They are on the order of two feet long. Through their own detailed computer programs, they command the robots to go forward or backward, to turn clockwise or counterclockwise so many degrees, and at what speed to do these things. Seeing one page of the computer program was just as impressive as the actual robots.
To get funding, FIRST Lego League and FIRST Tech Challenge students and their coaches, Spencer Sellay, Roger Flynn, Adam Six, and Bobby McCauley, will be at the Fall Fest selling raffle tickets. Last year, the kids eagerly participated in the cleanup after the Fall Fest was over, and received a very good donation from the Rotary Club of Townsend.
First Lego League Robotics teams placed second and fourth at the state level this year, and second in their first year. The First Tech Challenge team placed 10th in State, and Spencer Sellay was the Montana robotics coach of the year.
The ability and craftsmanship of these students are what is right about kids in America today.
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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Middle School Students in the First@ LEGO@ League have made these robots.
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
Image 2 Caption: This structure is at the early stage of a project being built by one of the high school students in the FIRST@ Tech Challenge.
Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
