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Thanks to patience, persistence, and dedicated community support, the Campolindo Robotics Club (active since 2006) helped develop, and is offering, a new Girl Scouts STEM program. The Robotics Club is known for competing with other Bay Area robotics teams in the FIRST Tech Challenge. The Club has won several awards this year.
The primary goal of these workshops is to inspire more women to enter STEM careers by exposing them to exciting, hands-on group projects and activities. The first session consists of girls working in small groups to construct mBlock robots; the second focuses on coding the robots using the Blockly app. The final project allows for more freedom and creativity, enabling the Scouts to develop and present their own fun twist.
Campo Robotics relies on the Parents Club for financial support, with help from local companies, such as Moraga Ace Hardware. For this new venture, the Kiwanis Club of Moraga Valley provided critical funding to purchase a starter set of robots and computers. Many individuals also stepped up. Mrs. Stephanie Verbanszky, a local troop leader and chemistry teacher at Campolindo High School, provided the opportunity to work with her troop in developing the curriculum. Ms. Nita Madra, a Campolindo STEM teacher, is the Club's leading mentor and helped guide the team. Mr. Ferenc Kovac (Kiwanis) spearheaded the effort and helped provided supplies, contacts, and insight to community outreach programs, as well as volunteer help from UC Berkeley's College of Engineering women faculty, staff, alumni, and Shefali Goel, a current student. Campolindo's Tech Club also contributed with post-production of Craig Kovac's online tutorial video on the robot components, assembly, and functions.
The Campolindo Robotics Club is looking to schedule more workshops with Girl Scouts troops. The plan is to roll it out to more of the local GSUSA Service Unit 327, which consists of over 800 girls. For more information or to schedule workshops with the Campolindo Robotics Club, you can visit their official website at campolindobossbots@weebly.com or email them at campolindobossbots@gmail.com.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA