The YMCA Girls Lego Robotics program is coming towards its end with its last meeting. The program is about teaching girls in middle school how to create and program a robot to be able to do certain functions, such as make it through a maze or to be able to turn when it sees a certain color.
The way that the program works is that the students are assigned a certain task and have to create and program a robot that can accomplish it within an hour with the help of a volunteer. After everyone completes the task, they share what they have done with everyone else with either a presentation or a competition.
Senior Vladimir Pierre Louis, who helps run the program, “really enjoyed working with others”. He felt that “after being a part of this program, [he] became more extroverted” as he was very timid before starting this. Pierre Louis gained interest in the program during his sophomore year after he found out they were looking for volunteers through a friend. He also mentioned that he “would do this again if [he] had the chance to.”
Senior Gaelle Musasa, who also helps run the program, felt that being a part of this helped her get out of her comfort zone as she “had to learn how to communicate more and be a better leader to younger kids”. Musasa really enjoyed communicating with the kids as “[she got] to learn about [the members’] experiences and how [they] feel about it” and get an idea of “where [they] are at and what can be done to help [them]”. She mentioned that she would like to be a part of a program like this again as she really enjoyed it.
Although this was the last meeting from the YMCA Girl’s Lego Robotics program, there will still be meetings with other groups of students in the future.
