American Crystal Sugar Company’s grant program is part of a community giving initiative and two local schools drew support for their robotics classes.
The Crookston, Minn., High School First Robotics Challenge Team was reestablished with new CHS teacher Doug Lee and competed against 70 other teams from Hawaii, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Minnesota at a district competition March 2-5 in Duluth.
“First Robotics has been around for over 25 years,” explained Lee in a letter to American Crystal. “The program promotes problem solving, time management, scientific theories, and engineering.”
“In January, the challenge was revealed to us,” he continued. “At that time we are given 6 weeks to brainstorm our designs and find materials. We had to fabricate the program the robot to meet the challenge. This year’s challenge is called the “Stronghold”; it is set with the theme of towers and castles. Defending your tower is just a small part of the competition with 8 different obstacles to get through before climbing the straight vertical tower wall.”
CHS sent five high school students and one college student to the competition in March. With the sponsorship from Crystal, Lee will add their logo and name on the robot, plus will give them a treasure from the Pirate Chest to “display with pride.”
American Crystal awarded six recipients $5,000 grants to support STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education. Climax-Shelly Public School was one of those selected and will use its funding to support the school’s robust robotics team. The school has offered robotics as an extracurricular activity since 2008 and has competed at the local and regional levels every year. The team currently consists of 22 students, representing about one-quarter of the 7th-12th grade student body. The team is aided by three teacher/advisors and two community mentors. American Crystal’s grant award will allow the group to purchase CAD (computer-aided design) software and textbooks, which is expected to help students create detailed drawings and further improve the team’s performance scores in competitions.
Representatives from American Crystal visited the school Feb. 19 to present them with a check and get a firsthand look at the robotic team’s project work. Company employees also visited with students and encouraged them to continue seeking out STEM-related learning experiences.
American Crystal’s grants are a part of their Community Roots framework to help build stronger communities, invest in the education of young people in the Red River Valley, and support the future of their company.
Source: www.crookstontimes.com