(TNS) — The physical distance separating Detroit Cristo Rey High School and Neinas Dual Language Learning Academy in Southwest Detroit is less than a half mile. But when it comes to working together, they might as well be right next door.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon in November, members of the Cristo Rey robotics team made a now-familiar brisk stroll over to Neinas after school to help the middle school robotics team at Neinas prepare for an upcoming competition.
The Cristo Rey and Neinas robotics teams participate in competitions sponsored by FIRST in Michigan, a nonprofit organization that supports the mission and vision of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). FIRST has been called a “global robotics community, which prepares youth for the future.” And in the case of Cristo Rey, a co-ed Catholic high school, and Neinas, a “neighborhood-centered” Detroit Public Schools Community District Pre-K through 8th grade school, the blend of the robotics community with the community of Southwest Detroit has whetted the appetites of hungry young minds at both schools.
“What I like most about our kiddos being with the kiddos from Cristo Rey is that collaboration piece, which is so important in life,” said Andrea Whan, an English Language Arts teacher and coach of the second-year robotics team at Neinas. “It (the relationship between the schools) started when we went to their summer (robotics) camp and saw all of the possibilities, and the relationship blossomed from there.
“The partnership has been really, really positive, especially for us, because we get to learn and grow, and ask questions.”
Extending an “olive branch,” as Whan called it, to the Neinas program was a natural action for Ann McGowan, a science teacher and the robotics coach at Cristo Rey. McGowan’s squad, known in the competition world as the Kinematic Wolves FRC 5577 from Detroit Cristo Rey High School, was formed in the fall of 2014 to show how math and science connect to students in hands-on, real-life ways by having the students use the fundamentals of “mechanical engineering, electrical design, programming, business, finance and marketing in an environment where they can learn.” Banners displaying awards won by the team, along with robots weighing up to 145 pounds of increasing complexity made by the team members and stored at Cristo Rey demonstrate that the program has achieved its educational mission within the high school. But McGowan proudly says the robotics program’s contributions have extended beyond the school grounds located at the corner of W. Vernor and Junction on the Most …….
Source: https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/detroit-schools-build-teams-experiences-with-robotics