NANTICOKE, Pa. — In Anthony Fleury's classroom, you'll find seniors from the Greater Nanticoke Area High School building robots from scratch.
The project started about a month ago when Fleury placed wires and wheels in front of his students with no blueprint.
The science teacher, Anthony Fleury explains, "this is much more open-ended, it allows the students more creativity to design the robot to do the task however they want."
Students took advantage of the challenge, building and coding their robots with personalized features.
Philip Kyle, a senior at Greater Nanticoke Area High School, says, “I've always been interested in engineering. I just never knew what it entailed until I took this class. Before this class, I had very little knowledge on it. Now I feel like I can hold my own.”
No two robots are the same, students chose light or motion sensors, and 3D printed their robot designs.
This project was made possible by a grant Fleury received to grow STEM opportunities at the high school. A necessity for students who want to study and work in STEM fields.
“We can teach the student to do the job; that's not a big deal. But as far as the hands-on experience, they will sometimes leave college not even picking up basic tools,” Fleury added.
This is the only engineering class at the high school, for now, Fleury has plans to implement more STEM courses.
“A lot of students are fearful to go into a STEM field because they are unfamiliar with it. Working hands-on with so many different things, it seems like a lot to accomplish. But with some exposure at this level, it makes it a bit easier at this level and less scary, I think,” Fleury mentioned.
Even if his students don't become engineers, Fleury hopes he can expose his students to other realms of the scientific world and show them if they can build a robot from nothing, they can do anything.
Check out WNEP’s YouTube page.