When one of our Professional Engineers, David VanderMeyden, pitched the idea of teaching robotics at his children's school our CEO responded with "Absolutely! How can we support?" Next thing you know David was at the Jordan Christian School with a box full of equipment and an eagerness to share his expertise.

 

David donates both his time and energy to the school catering to two age groups, Grades 3/4 and Grades 7/8. He's started the 3/4 group off with Snap Circuits as an introduction to electricity. They're also using Integrated Circuit boards to build music and games and a bit of 'logic'. For the 7/8 group he has them experimenting with a Lego Mindstorms kit as a way to get started into programming with a graphical language. 

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"It's been a great way to expand on existing curriculum and explore the world of robotics and automation with the class. We've learned a lot as a group and have been able to ignite a curiosity in engineering and technology at the school."

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His efforts have even earned him the title of 'Mr. Robotics' around campus, although David thinks that's more attributed to the length of his last name than anything else. "Apparently Mr. VanderMeyden was too long, so now I'm known as Mr. Robotics."

 

We're excited to see where David takes things next, there's been talk of starting a lunchtime Robotics Club.