The St. Vrain Valley School District will host its first ever Unified Robotics Event in an effort to showcase the positive outcomes of engaging students with disabilities in engineering and technology.
The district’s Department of Special Education is partnering with the Innovation Center to host the event, which invites students and their parents to explore robotics stations.
Laura Hess, the district’s executive director of special education, and Alexandra Downing, St. Vrain’s robotics program manager, issued a joint statement explaining why they planned the event.
“With our robust robotics programming, we wanted to create an event that could increase parents' awareness of robotics and how it can be adapted to help their child be involved across all of the robotics programs we offer,” their statement read. “In St. Vrain, we believe that robotics is for all students, and are always looking for new opportunities to get more students involved.”
The district’s robotics clubs welcome students with disabilities, but the Unified Robotics Event will allow parents to experience robotics with their child, the organizers said.
“We are excited about this inaugural event that will highlight the work we are already doing in our schools,” the joint statement read. “Coaches have worked with their special education teachers to help the students during robotics practices. We wanted to build on that process and make it district wide.”
Each robotics station at the event will be hosted by high school students, the organizers said.
Integrating technology into special education helps students’ executive functioning, motivates them and ignites their passion, said district communications specialist Eunice Peinado in an article to the community.
“Many parents have seen a significant positive impact on their child’s education and progress,” Peinado wrote.
The district uses the VEX Robotics program to organize its many robotics clubs, which usually meet a couple of times a week after school.
More than 200 robotics teams from St. Vrain Valley Schools have competed in local tournaments this school year, and some teams are now preparing for state competitions. Nearly two dozen St. Vrain elementary school teams are registered for the state tournament, which is set to be held March 11 in the district. Around 32 St. Vrain middle and high school teams are registered for the higher-level state competition, which is scheduled for March 4 in Denver.
The Unified Robotics Event is scheduled from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Innovation Center, 33 Quail Rd., in Longmont.
