In the News
LHS students complete Workplace Simulation Project
Washington, IN,
May 12, 2018
Tags:
Education
Indiana District 8 Congressman Larry Bucshon said this is an important skill for students to have after graduating.
“The future workforce is right here, in this gym, in Loogootee,” Bucshon said. “The tech industry and others need people. There are literally tens of thousands of job opportunities across the country and these are interesting things.”
LOOGOOTEE — Students at Loogootee High School were able to show off their STEM or science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills on Friday in the Lion Den. For the first time, the school put on a workplace simulation project. With help from local engineers, students built their own systems and robots during the second semester. After coming back from Christmas break and then missing two days of school due to weather, these high school students worked for one hour every Friday to complete the project. Defense industry volunteers from STIMULUS Engineering worked directly with students to help answer questions and to help them learn how to build, create and program these devices. The purpose of this simulation was for students to work together to stop a ground robot attack on a hospital. Students had to detect the intruder robot using sensors, analyze the position and speed of the intruder robot and then deter the intruder with an interceptor robot. “We used an ultrasonic sensor that sends out sound waves in high frequency to determine the distance and speed of the intruder robot,” LHS sophomore Sean Page, detect team number three, said. “It has to be set at specific distances to know exactly what was crossing the barrier.” Zane Cropp, a LHS freshman, was on intruder/analyze team one. “I’m in engineering classes and this was so much fun,” Cropp said. “We built the robot using Lego pieces and then had to program how fast it would go and when to stop.” The volunteer engineers enjoyed working with the students. “I think they advanced in a short amount of time and now have a better understanding of how engineering works,” Cary Bledsoe, the vice president for STIMULUS Engineering, said. “It was interesting, challenging and fun for the students.” Indiana District 8 Congressman Larry Bucshon said this is an important skill for students to have after graduating. “The future workforce is right here, in this gym, in Loogootee,” Bucshon said. “The tech industry and others need people. There are literally tens of thousands of job opportunities across the country and these are interesting things.”
For teachers, like LHS geometry teacher Andi Sutton, it was nice to see the students apply what they have learned in class. “I think this has helped them so much, from working together in groups, to having to step out of their comfort zone,” Sutton said. “It was nice to see everything coming together in the application of math, science, engineering and technology.” The Times Herald |
