Hartselle Junior High School pre-engineering, robotics classes gain real world experience

The Hartselle Junior High School pre-engineering and robotics classes have designed an irrigation system for one of the school gardens.

Classes are taught by Caroline Weems, and the irrigation system is one of many projects in the class.

Weems said she believes in having real world experience in her classes. Instead of learning about the engineering process, the students use it. “They have lived it and done it. They have done the engineering process and see why it is helpful,” Weems said.

The classes worked to calculate the amount of water a traditional sprinkler used to water the garden and spoke with Hartselle Utilities about the cost to calculate the expense of the water. Weems said the class then began researching different types of water irrigation systems and presented them to Tina Kimbrell, their assistant principal.

Kimbrell selected the drip system, and the students began working to build it. Weems said the students have been engaged in the project and began working on it the third day of school.

“I think it was exciting. They had spent so much time working on it,” she said. “I was afraid of them losing interest, but the fact that they actually get to do it was a huge motivator for them.”

Through her class, Weems said she hopes to show her students they can use their skills in their personal lives as well. “It’s real world. Whether you are an engineer or just a regular person coming up with ideas and trying them, the ideas don’t always work,” Weems said. “Your mistakes are just as important as your successes.”

Although engineering and robotics are commonly thought of solely in the sense of science, Weems said creativity also plays an important role. In her class, students are presented with problems they try to solve.

The students helped to organize a computer cart, in addition to the irrigation system.

“I try to get my students to think of many different to do things,” Weems said. “Creativity is not just art, although that is a huge part of what we do. It is about creative problem solving, arriving at a good decision.”