Attendees at this weekend’s K-12 STEM Symposium will be able to see a student-programmed robot first-hand.
Dr. Tinell Priddy, principal of the new Academies of Loudoun, will be on hand with her FIRST Robotics Competition Team, named RoboLoCo. The robot has been designed for this year’s FRC challenge, “Power Up!” In the challenge, 120-pound robots toss power cubes onto giant scales to win points.
Attendees can learn what makes a typical FRC robot tick and learn about motor controllers, Omni wheels and pneumatics systems.
“During their time in robotics, students learn valuable skills including how to use the engineering design process to make a complex system, how be a valuable team leader, how to develop a successful business plan, and how to have a great time doing something constructive with their peers,” Priddy said.
Priddy will speak at the STEM Symposium at 11:15 a.m. along with Dr. Ann Bonitatibus, principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
With 22 years’ experience as a teacher, coach, athletic director and administrator, Priddy holds a bachelor’s of mathematics with a minor in technology education from Western Washington University in Washington. She also has a master’s degree in curriculum, instruction and assessment from Western Washington as well as a doctorate in educational leadership from Argosy University in Hawaii.
For the past three years, Priddy has worked as a consultant with government officials and an education and cultural exchange foundation on the architectural design and curriculum planning for four new STEM schools across China. She is also a past assistant principal at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and has taught at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The Academies of Loudoun is a member of the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools, an approximately 100-school organization with high-ranking institutions across the country. The mission of the Academies of Loudoun is to “empower students to explore, research, collaborate, innovate, and to make meaningful contributions to the world in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.”