Lake County Gazette

The robotics team at Highland Park High School enhanced the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) that introduces fifth grade students to coding after claiming victory at a state competition.

“Rust in Peace created a seven-week unit that was piloted at Wilmont in fifth grade steam classes,” Jacob Hoyt, the team’s captain, said during a board meeting. “Our 15 lesson video curriculum was enhanced by Rust in Peace members teaching in-person, welcoming students into the world of engineering and software development using the FIRST competition platform. Additionally, students documented their learning, questions and reflections in their engineering notebooks.”

John Pearce, the director of Family Code Night, said to the International Society for Technology in Education that K-5th grade students should be getting their feet wet in computer science before they feel like they “aren’t good at” it.

FIRST was founded by Dean Kamen as a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring young students to become leaders and innovators in the science and technology world. They do so through educational programs and mentoring opportunities. FIRST focuses on hands-on experience for students, as well as problem-solving and team-building pillars in all of their programs. 

“No matter the coding platform, the key concepts can be learned in the very first hour of instruction,” Pearce said to ISTE. “And when K-5 kids realize they can master them, it inspires self-belief.”

The team of nine juniors from Highland Park High School won the state championship for robotics in March. The Rust In Peace team won the First Tech Challenge state competition, which makes it the second time in four years that a team from Highland will advance on to the world championship.

FIRST is hosting its FIRST LEGO League to gain an understanding of engineering fundamentals with Legos. It’s open to students ages 4 to 16.

Fifth graders were divided into small teams of two to three students, the teams would then watch instructional videos made by members of the Rust In Peace team to learn new coding skills. The videos also included information on FIRST, being a member of a robotics team and taught new skills that would be a part of the VRS system that the students were learning to use.