Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) celebrated the ninth year of a partnership with Zimmer Biomet and the Zimmer Biomet Foundation with its annual elementary robotics showcase.
This year's Elementary Robotics Showcase, held on April 27 at the high school's TRAC, was another success, thanks to the support and the hands-on involvement from Zimmer Biomet and the Zimmer Biomet Foundation. From providing funding for T-shirts and supplies plus volunteer time, their help was invaluable. This event showcases the programming and engineering skills of students from all WCS elementary schools, according to a news release from WCS.
Every year, WCS kicks off the showcase by crafting programming and engineering challenges that push each student to tackle real-world problems through coding and robotics. This year, students navigated challenges like rescuing a hiker or retrieving wiffle balls with their Hungry Hippo robots.
Robotics clubs began meeting weekly in late January, guided by dedicated WCS teachers, paraprofessionals and parent volunteers, spending weeks mastering coding and engineering. This preparation paid off at the showcase.
Dr. David Hoffert, WCS superintendent, said, “WCS is proud to offer our elementary students a large number of extra and co-curricular sports, clubs, organizations and opportunities in the arts. In partnership with Zimmer Biomet, WCS hosted a robotics competition. Over 200 students from the eight elementary schools participated in the robotics competitions. We are extremely proud of the students and their hard work in the STEM fields. These skills exemplify the skill sets needed for the next generation of our local orthopedic and STEM industry.”
Logistics were a team effort with contributions from across the community:
Kerry Stogsdill and Randy Wallen managed the transport of competition boards; Marc Huffer and his fifth-period class crafted the Hungry Hippo boards.
Scott Green’s media class produced our first-ever Robotics Showcase Video; and volunteers from Everwise, Orthoworx, WCS staff and students and many others helped the event run smoothly, stated the release.
"Being entrusted with the opportunity to showcase WCS elementary students' work in robotics is not just a privilege, but a profound honor,” said STEM instructional coach Dan Graney. “It's a testament to WCS's dedication, innovation and the belief in the transformative power of technology to shape our future. We are all Tigers!"
WCS is grateful for the ongoing support from Zimmer Biomet and the Zimmer Biomet Foundation. Their commitment helps them continue to provide these invaluable learning experiences that inspire the next generation of innovators and thinkers, stated the release.