NC robotics team donates toys
CRANBERRY TWP — The North Catholic High School Robotics Team 5740, the Trojanators, recently used its skills to help others.
The group gave adapted toys to Child's Way, a program at the Children's Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center in Pittsburgh. The team built adapted toys with special buttons, lights and vibrations as part of a summer project.
In September, the team made the donation to the organization and demonstrated the capabilities.
“Adapting and distributing the toys for the children at Child's Way was an awesome project for our students,” said David Yackuboskey, teacher and lead mentor for the team. “They were able to use their technical skills to serve a really special group of kids.”
Yackuboskey said his students also got a chance to witness the abilities of the children at Child's Way as they drove the robot and tried out the toys.
“We are excited to come back with another round of adapted toys,” he said.Pamela Keen, CEO of the Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center, said the organization is thankful for the donation.“The kids had a blast watching the robot demonstration,” she said. “It was nice that the kids could take turns controlling its movements.”The mission of the robotics program at North Catholic High School is encouraging creativity, leadership and professionalism in students — connecting them to a future enlightened by their STEAM experiences. This is accomplished through FIRST Robotics, a holistic program in which teams of students design, build and compete with their robots.It is also about sharpening character traits, such as professionalism and networking with peers and industry professionals from around the globe as well as problem solving in a project-based learning environment.
