A robotic horse gallops through Lower School, claims first prize
This past Wednesday, the seventh grade students competed in a robotic vex competition that highlighted their training in the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) course. With a bunch of excited and interested kindergarteners and prekinders watching as both keen observers and eventual judges, the contest, organized and run by the Lower School STEM teacher Shannon LoRusso, was won by the group of Krystina Hartley, Casey McKee and Timmy Xiong, whose theme was a galloping horse.
“It was great to see how intrigued they were,” said Casey, who initially came up with the idea. “We thought they would like to see a horse because little kids are really into animals. It was kind of nerve-racking, though, because once the competition was over, you hoped they would come over and vote for your toy. When a lot of them did (10 votes), it felt great to be chosen.”
There were 23 students from the seventh grade class involved in the presentation. The projects, which took a little over three weeks to complete, gave the students a chance to learn how engineering works in the real world.
“I know much more now than I ever did and it’s neat to see how things like a double gear works in everyday life, like how it’s used on a bicycle,” said Casey, who has been attending Farragut since sixth grade. “Doing projects like these helps us understand it even more.”
Mrs. LoRusso took the winners to lunch at Chipotle.