Date: Apr 03, 2015 Author: Jessica Bold Source: Times Record (
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COURTESY TRACIE ADAMS Rich Brown, UAS chief mechanic with the unmanned aircraft program in the aviation department at Kansas State University at Salina, Kan., discusses unmanned aircraft with members of Tracie Adams' robotic, engineering and technology class at Waldron Middle School.
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COURTESY TRACIE ADAMS Mason Cox, an eighth-grader at Waldron Middle School, stops for a picture while looking at an unmanned aircraft as part of in Tracie Adams' robotic, engineering and technology class.
COURTESY TRACIE ADAMS Seventh-grade student Clayin Lunsford works on the computer in Tracie Adams' robotic, engineering and technology class at Waldron Middle School.
Within the walls of Waldron Middle School, there is a class that has captured the attention of more than just its students.
The robotic, engineering and technology class, led by instructor Tracie Adams since its inception seven years ago, has a growing list of local agencies, universities and companies willing and wanting to assist in the education of the seventh- and eighth-graders who must meet a rigorous set of standards before earning a seat in the class.
Students interested in taking the robotic, engineering and technology class must be recommended by a teacher, write an essay detailing why they are interested in the class and have good grades and no discipline infractions.
Once they are in, however, a whole world of knowledge is opened up to them that provide both real world experience as well as traditional classroom requirements, like math, English and science, Adams said.
Seven years ago, a $200,000 technology grant changed Waldron Middle School and instructor Adams forever. Adams, a former college basketball coach who had no experience in the field, was chosen by the principal to lead the class.
This choice turned out to be something not dissimilar to fate; a door that was just begging to be opened.
"It's like I found my calling. I love it, it is my passion," Adams says of the robotic, engineering and technology class class.
Her passion shines through as she talks about all of the projects and activities happening inside and outside of the classroom.
Adams laughs when asked about current projects, as there is just "a plethora of stuff" happening every day. Students develop assisted devices, like a prototype of a wheelchair suitable for a Barbie that must do certain tasks like climb stairs, she said.
They work in areas like biomimicry, which is where you have a problem in human society and go out into nature to solve it.
A fairly well-known example is when Japanese engineers used the kingfisher's coned-shaped beak as inspiration. They wanted bullet trains to come out of tunnels without making a loud, clapping noise. Enter the kingfisher, which dives into water without making a sound. After the engineers designed the nose of a bullet train to mimic the shape of the kingfisher's beak, the loud clapping ceased. Nature had already solved the problem; it just had to be found.
In 2011, students in the class were 13th in the country in the BEST Robotics Competition, Adams said.
During the competition, robots built by students are put through a series of challenges and tasks with the winner moving on to the next round. Waldron Middle School won both district and regional titles.
The successes keep piling on, though they are more in the way of gaining knowledge and partnerships with schools and companies in order to help further their experience and learning opportunities, Adams added.
For example, the class currently has a partnership with Sharklet Technologies. The students discovered the company while reading Forbes magazine during class. Sharklet Technologies developed a film that can be applied to tabletops and counters to reduce bacterial contamination.
Sharklet Techbologies was very open and receptive to the interest of the students and will be sending them some film to try out in the classroom and main office to study to see how using the film inhibits bacterial growth versus an untreated surface, Adams said.
Another partnership that began three years ago, after Adams reached out and asked if they would be interested in helping her class, is with the unmanned aircraft program in the aviation department at Kansas State University at Salina, Kan.
Adams' students are very interested in unmanned aircraft, better known as drones, and have been working with them for a while, putting them to practical use.
Using drones, students have tackled many different areas, all of which help in real world situations, Adams said.
Students studied Waldron's school bus routes, finding some of the big problem spots that led to lots of congestion and then suggested modifications to the administration regarding the routes, she said.
They worked with police in a simulated environment to help find, inspect and report a car parked on campus with an artificial baby inside.
Students also work with the Farm Bureau and local farmers to map out various places around farms, like where fence lines are or where there is more or less grass for cattle to graze, she added.
"It takes us much less time using a drone than it does for a farmer to drive around his property," Adams said.
The partnership with KSU led to a very large jump in learning, as students have a chance to learn from some of the best in the field. Some students are treated to a visit to the campus once a year for a few days.
During the trip, they work side by side with instructors, mapping flights, doing flight simulation and getting tours of the airplanes onsite, having many opportunities to talk with mechanics and go inside the planes, Adams said.
In addition to the annual field trip, KSU instructors Skype or Facetime with students on a regular basis throughout the year, sometimes with a module where the instructors at KSU and students at Waldron will build something together, even though they are hundreds of miles away.
During the 2015 trip out to KSU in February, Adams and her students were formally asked to be the first middle school in the United States to have a partnership with the unmanned aircraft program and were presented with a new drone, the DJI Inspire.
Adams said both she and her students were thrilled about the incredible opportunity.
The class hopes to host an unmanned aircraft clinic with KSU over the summer, where any student can come and learn to fly, build and utilize drones. The clinic is still in the works, and the classroom is always bustling with activity, Adams said.
"We take learning out of the box, and I really feel like we are a leader in the robotics, engineering and technology arena in the state. The parents of the students and the administrators are wonderful," she said.
