Bruin Bots coach Robb Cohoon and a team member during a practice last fall.
Kellogg Community College kicked off a year of expanding youth robotics programming last month with the start of the free Bruin Bots After-School Club.
The club is open to area students in sixth through eighth grades and will meet from 3:45 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays through May 23 at KCC’s Regional Manufacturing Technology Center, 405 Hill Brady Road, Battle Creek.
Parents are asked to contact KCC’s Lifelong Learning Department at 269-965-4134 for enrollment information.
The after-school programming is part of a larger initiative at the college that in coming months will include a pair of Spring Break Camps – “The World of Lego Engineering” and “The World of Lego Robotics” – in April, summer camps that will focus on different aspects of robotics planning and design in July, and a second season of Bruin Bots robotics team competition in the fall.
“We’re thrilled to be providing even more opportunities for youth to engage in this hands-on STEM programming,” said Robb Cohoon, coach of the Bruin Bots. “It’s great to see students suddenly realize that they not only love what they are doing here at KCC, but that it could actually lead to a career someday that they are excited about.”
KCC Youth Robotics Coordinator Kim Andrews-Bingham said the youth programs are part of a long-term community-based strategy centered on robotics that also will include courses for adults. She said the courses, which will be geared toward educators and community members who want to start robotics teams of their own or incorporate robotics into their school-based STEM curricula, are currently in the development stage.
“We’ve received so much incredible community support since starting youth robotics programming in Lifelong Learning,” Andrews-Bingham said, praising area businesses and KCC students and instructors for providing funds, materials and volunteers to support the program. “We’re talking to area schools and community members and we’re getting nothing but positive feedback.”
For more information, call 269-965-4134 or visit www.kellogg.edu/lifelong.
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