- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/mills-high-school/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Wed, 05 Apr 2017 15:12:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Future STEM teachers look to inspire students with robotics club /news-archive/2017/04/05/stem-teachers-robotics-club/ Wed, 05 Apr 2017 15:12:32 +0000 /news/?p=66754 ... Future STEM teachers look to inspire students with robotics club]]> Sandra Leiterman, a math specialist in the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Educational Center, created the first (VEXU) robotics team in the state of Arkansas.聽 In VEX robotics, students design and build robots to compete in robotics competitions that change every year. Prior to six years ago, Leiterman had no experience coaching robotics teams. Now, being a robocoach is practically second nature to her as she coaches the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock team and two robotics teams at Mills High School. Last year, she also helped start robotics teams at two Little Rock elementary schools, Chicot and Jefferson. 鈥淲hen I first started teaching, I was asked to start a robotics team when I had no experience,鈥 Leiterman said. 鈥淣ow I know a lot of high school robotics teams want to continue onto college competitions. As future teachers, there is a huge push for these students to provide STEM activities for their future students.鈥 While most robotics teams are staffed by engineering students, 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 squad, who dubbed themselves 鈥淛ust a Prototype,鈥 is made up of future math and science teachers looking to inspire their future students. 鈥淭here is such a demand right now for STEM in schools,鈥 said Donetha Groover, a robotics team member and biology major. 鈥淲e are all going to be teachers. We want to experience robotics and take it into the classroom ourselves.鈥 In addition to being on the robotics team, the students also give back by volunteering with local high school robotics programs and serving as judges at their competitions. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock team members include Groover, senior biology major from Lodi, California; Jamie Burrows, junior math major from Mabelvale, Arkansas; Robert Presswood, sophomore physics and math major from Lincoln, Illinois; Rachel Smith, senior math major from Lockesburg, Arkansas; Michael McKinnie, senior biology major from Cabot, Arkansas; Shala Nail, senior math major from Evening Shade, Arkansas; and David Shurley, physics major. The REC Foundation awarded the team a materials grant that team members used to build their robot named FLN, which is pronounced Flynn and stands for Finished Last Night. The humorous name refers to a highly stressful week when the team completely redesigned its robot and made last-minute adjustments the night before the competition. 鈥淔our of us had judged a high school robotics competition in Monticello the weekend before our competition,鈥 Burrows said. 鈥淲e were really impressed by Bryant High School鈥檚 design and used an adaptation for our robot. That left us about four days to rebuild the robot before we left for the competition, and we had a few sleepless nights.鈥 Each year, VEX creates a unique game teams play during the robotics competitions. This year, they used their robots to play the game 鈥淪tarstruck鈥 on a 12-foot by 12-foot field. The object was to attain a higher score than the opposing team by placing stars and cubes in the scoring zones and hanging a robot on the hanging bar. 鈥淔LN is unique because every other robot had a claw, yet FLN鈥檚 design is to collect the star in the basket and then shoot the star across the border,鈥 Smith said. After their first competition in Muskogee, Oklahoma, Just a Prototype members were invited to participate in the TEX VEXU tournament in Houston against teams from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas in February. Just a Prototype received the special Judges Award recognition. 鈥淭he judges loved the fact that the team is made up of future math and science teachers that joined the team in order to gain experience so they may one day start their own teams when they have teaching jobs,鈥 Leiterman said. For now, the team members are looking forward to April 21, when VEX will announce the new robotic game competition for the 2017-18 season. The students plan to create a second robotics team and are hoping to host a VEXU competition at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in the fall. In the upper right photo, the “Just a Prototype” robotics team members include: Back row (L-R) Jamie Burrows, Rachel Smith, Shala Nail, and Donetha Groover. Front row (L-R) David Shurley , FLN the robot, and Faculty Advisor Sandra Leiterman. Photo by Lonnie Timmon III/糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Communications.聽]]> 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock teacher coaches girls robotics team in online competition /news-archive/2017/01/25/girls-robotics-team-stem/ Wed, 25 Jan 2017 21:27:32 +0000 /news/?p=66150 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock teacher coaches girls robotics team in online competition]]> Sandra Leiterman, a math specialist in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Educational Center, coaches two robotics teams at Mills High School. In 2016, she also helped start robotics teams at two Little Rock elementary schools, Chicot and Jefferson. While she was a sixth-grade math teacher at Fuller Middle School, Leiterman started a robotics team in 2011, even though she had no previous robotics experience. 鈥淲e needed to do something to get kids more engaged in school,鈥 Leiterman said. 鈥淥ur first competition was actually a free competition at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. We were the only middle school team competing against about 15 high school teams. We ended up in the middle of the rankings, so the team鈥檚 confidence soared.鈥 After spending a year on the co-ed robotics team, four girls sought permission from their middle school principal to form an all-girls team, and the Uncut Diamonds were born. Team members consist of Mills High School juniors Jordyn Major, Maddy Barth, and Clare Quaid as well as senior Lauren Stewart. The girls have been on the team since junior high and have been competing together for six years.聽
The Uncut Diamonds, from left to right, are Maddy Barth, Clare Quaid, Jordyn Major, and Lauren Stewart.

The Uncut Diamonds, from left to right, are Maddy Barth, Clare Quaid, Jordyn Major, and Lauren Stewart.

Coaching the girls robotics team has been an inspirational experience for Leiterman, who has watched the girls grow stronger and more confident through the years. 鈥淚 have seen the transformations with my own team,鈥 she said. 鈥淕etting girls involved at a younger age really boosts their confidence. That is my passion. We have to get more girls involved in math and science, and I want to help everyone I can.鈥 Quaid, for example, started off sixth grade wanting to be an artist. She had little interest in science but joined the robotics team because Leiterman was one of her favorite teachers. Now, Quaid loves robotics and plans to major in mechanical engineering, Leiterman said. With one team member, Stewart, graduating in May, the girls hope to make it to the world competition before their six-year-long adventure comes to an end. The girls describe themselves as 鈥渇our individual girls that came together as a robotics team under the direction of one amazing coach.鈥 They are spreading their inspirational and empowering story through the Online Challenges competition. The winning team has a chance to attend the VEX Robotics World Championship in April. Voting ends at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. You can vote for the Uncut Diamonds by () and then clicking on the Login/Register tab on the top left side. Once you have logged in or registered, you will be sent a verification email. After activating your account, you can and cast your vote for the Uncut Diamonds. For more information, contact Leiterman at 920.227.8576 or saleiterman@ualr.edu.]]>