Grapevine's Robot Challenge Parade
Grapevine Elementary Hosts Out of This World Robot Challenge Parade
“I think it’s awesome to make something that is launched into space. It’s cool that she was able to reach her dreams.”
5th grader Kylie
An administrative mistake in Texas has resulted in a fun and engaging learning opportunity for the students and families of Grapevine Elementary. In early December, Grapevine Principal Myrna Hernandez received communication from Firefly Aerospace asking the school to consider celebrating one of its lunar mission engineers, who they thought was an alumnus of Grapevine.
While the school couldn’t locate the student's records, Hernandez and her team decided to make the most of a connection to a rocket scientist and leverage it into a learning experience for students.
The result was the Robot Challenge Parade, held on Friday, January 9th during the school’s Flag Friday assembly. Students showcased their robot creations in a parade-like environment, utilizing math, science, and design learning.
“We launched a home project over winter break,” says Hernandez, “where students got to create and make robots at home out of recycled materials, or whatever they had access to. When we returned to school, we had a day where they brought them in and we did a whole parade with these little robots.
“The kids made some amazing creations. It's not technology, obviously - it’s whatever materials they had available. But they created these really awesome robots.”’
Students Inspired
Students were excited and inspired by the project. When asked what they would ask a rocket scientist, 4th grader Paige said, “I would ask someone working on a spaceship their story. How did you decide this is what you wanted to do? How long does it take to engineer something that can actually go to space? I would want to work on spaceships or rockets. I don’t want to go to space, but I would want to see what my robot could do if it was sent to space.”
The engineer, Farah Zuberi, heard about the mixup and contacted Hernandez to clear up the confusion, as she was pleased to hear that the school had moved ahead with a lesson. Zuberi may end up sending a message to the students to encourage them in learning and pursuing their dreams.
“Despite the mix-up, Farah found the story hilarious and appreciated our students’ support of her incredible work. We hope to connect with Farah soon and are excited at the possibility of her sharing a video message with our students, continuing to inspire them to reach for the stars!
Our students showed creativity, curiosity, and teamwork through the Robot Challenge, and their excitement reminded us that celebrating possibilities is what truly matters.”
