O-C 5th & 6th Graders Recieve Grant To Learn Programing

Dylon Parks and Christian Behnk with a Sphiros that can be controlled by programming and coding.

Jaimie Schmitz
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Fifth and sixth graders at Clearwater-Orchard are learning more than just multiplication tables and other math techniques.
 
They are learning a valuable skill that many people still know nothing about; programing and coding.
 
Christy Graves didn’t learn about programming and technology until she moved away from the rural community. Now as a computer engineer, she wanted to give younger students a chance to learn what she learned in college.

So when she heard about a technology grant for schools, she reached out to a Clearwater-Orchard teacher, who just happens to be her mom.
 
“And I was like this would be perfect for my moms school,” she said about finding the grant.

​With the $2000.00 from IBM Community Grants, they purchased 12 Sphero Sparks, 3 Spheros and a BB8.  
 
A Sphero is ball that can be programed with many different features. Fifth and sixth grade teachers Tami Kuhfal and Jana Wilhelm will be using them for science, math and more.
 
“I think they are going to be more excited about math,” Kuhfal explained.  “So many times, especially in fifth grade, you hear “I hate math. I’m not good at math.”
 
But in the process of learning what Christy does, the excitement started.
 
“She mentions that you need to know algebra,” Kuhfal said.  “My kids began learning algebra last week. “We love algebra!” I mean that’s music to a teachers ears.”
 
The student can do the programming and coding for each sphiros.  Sphiro has its own program that is very similar to JAVA or Python programs.
 
They can make it move forward, backward, turn, change colors, and even go through mazes.

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​“So there is a variety of different activities already built in,” Kuhfal explained. “So the kids can watch. I assign a activity to the kids, they can take their Sphiro and they can figure out how they are going to make it work.”
 
Kuhfal said the students are picking up programing and coding very fast. Both Kuhfal and Graves have high hopes for the program, and for the students using the program.
 
“And kids so many times only think of computers and things as a gaming aspect and I think that this just opens their eyes to a more of a broader horizon,” Kufal hopes.
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“And so I am hoping that this kind of helps kids figure that out sooner than I did and realize oh, this is kind of cool and its not as nerdy and it doesn’t have that as bad connotation as much as like this is fun, and awesome, and great,” Graves said.
 
Kuhfal has time set aside every Wednesday to work with the Sphiros. Although she is the teacher in the class, she says she will be learning a lot right along with the kids. 

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