Students at Pikes Peak Prep are now
able to experience engineering hands on through the new robotics program
started by Mr. Mark Connell. Ninth grade
students Machelle Irby and Esteban Alvidrez meet twice a week with other
students and work as builders and programmers of the robots and hope to enter
into country wide and world—wide competitions with the robots they work on
through the team. Machelle participates
on the team for fun and has a robot at home and dreams of becoming a veterinarian. Esteban dreams of becoming an engineer and
opening his own business with his own patented products. He is also interested
in the video game design industry. Both believe that working on the robotics
team will add value to their high school experience and enrich their
application to college.
As a former computer science/programming
engineer in Silicon Valley, Mark Connell has a rich experience to bring to the
Pikes Peak Prep Engineering program through the Project Lead the Way program. He became a teacher as a career changer and
finished his master’s degree in education in 2006, and began teaching at Pikes
Peak Prep in fall of 2012. Mark Connell took
robotics during college and wanted to expose students to robotics as a hands on
way for them to get involved in engineering. Math and Engineering teacher Mr.
Connell currently teaches the introductory high school Project Lead the Way
Course at Pikes Peak Prep, Pathways to Engineering, and George Antone teaches
the middle school course, Green Architecture.
In order to market the program, Mr. Connell put together a presentation
to introduce 7th through 12th graders to the new robotics
club. They hope to grow the curriculum into a college accredited Project Lead
the Way program at Pikes Peak Prep. Mark
Connell put together a proposal for a robotics program here at Pikes Peak Prep
soon after joining, and GEO Foundation supported by purchasing all of the
necessary equipment for the school. As
a Project Lead The Way inspired program, the new robotics program is a key part
of ensuring that students graduate with a competitive edge in math, science,
and engineering.
