This fall 650 Cheshire fourth and fifth graders are learning valuable lessons from a robotics project supported by a $54 thousand grant from the Cheshire Education Foundation (CEF).

Every other day for six weeks the students spend a 45-minute period in groups of three working to build and program a prototype for a robot that could be used to deliver materials up and down the hallways from one classroom to another. “The small groups are using their critical thinking to brainstorm and test solutions,” said Stephanie Lopez-Smith, one of the district’s two elementary school science coaches. “There is no one code for every robot that would be the only correct choice.”

The Cheshire Education Foundation grant provided funds to purchase all of the robotics kits that the students are using. “This program is at the intersection of our district goals to improve complex thinking and develop social-emotional learning,” said Kevin Hanlon who is Cheshire’s K-8 curriculum coordinator. “Our teachers universally report that it’s a valuable hands-on and meaningful experience for their students.”

“I’ve seen my students’ communications and collaboration skills improve,” reported Highland School fifth grade teacher Jennifer Zebarth. “And they can use these skills when they are faced with challenges in other subject areas.”

“We’re trying to generate more interest and enthusiasm for our STEM offerings in the Cheshire Public Schools,” added Hanlon. The same 132 robotics kits bought by the CEF will be used by next year’s fourth and fifth graders. “But we have already come up with more experiments to improve the projects in 2025,” said Stephanie Kuncas, the second elementary school science coach.

When his team gets the robot to do what they programmed, one of the fifth graders said, “I love the feeling of accomplishment.”