Two Innovative Huntington Foundation Grants are Launched
The Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education continues to make a difference in Huntington classrooms 16 years after its founding. Recent grants have supported a number of innovative initiatives, including separate projects related to problem-solving and logic and robotics at Woodhull Intermediate School.
One Huntington Foundation grant allowed Woodhull School psychologist Leonard Mendola to investigate a medium he used to facilitate the teaching of problem-solving and logic skills without the boredom and intimidation that sometimes accompanies such study.
Dr. Mendola and the youngsters utilized Legos, which provided a very simple yet intuitive interface that proved easy for the students to relate to and interact with. Since a majority of the children were familiar with Legos they were looked at as toys to have fun with instead of instruments of learning. The students constructed a large Star Wars battleship replica as part of the project. It was later put on display in a main lobby showcase for the school community to view.
Another of Dr. Mendola’s successful grant proposals was titled “The Use of Robotics as a Medium for Improving School Competence, Promoting Problem Solving Abilities, and Increasing Children's Understanding for Scientific, Mathematical, and Design Concepts. The title is a mouthful, to be sure, but students are already benefiting from the materials purchased through the generosity of the Huntington Foundation.
One recent day, Woodhull sixth grader Alex Arthur and teacher Conrad Dierking proudly posed with the first robot created as part of the project. The device intrigued students and staff alike and created a buzz around the building.
The robotics grant was designed to help teach Woodhull students various scientific, mathematical and design concepts through the designing, building and programming of robots. Students creatively explore computer programming, mechanical design, physics, mathematics, motion, environmental factors and problem solving in a collaborative group setting.
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