GMC News

GMC Prep School Teacher Awarded Grant for Robotics Program

GMC Prep School Teacher Awarded Bright Ideas Grant to Fund Robotics Program

This week, Georgia Military College Prep School teacher, Aimee Lundy, received a grant of $1,412.87 from the Bright Ideas grant program, sponsored by Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation. The program provides grants for teachers for classroom innovative projects in grades Pre-K through 12 that would not otherwise be funded. Georgia certified public or private school teachers in grades Pre-K through 12 in Baldwin, Jones, Putnam, Jasper, Twiggs, and Wilkinson counties qualify.

In her grant proposal, Lundy stated she’d use the funds to “introduce coding to students in grades 4 and 5 with the goal of eventually expanding to grades 6-8. Students will have another outlet in which to create stories, learn geography, develop problem-solving skills, create music, and follow through with challenges.”

With this grant, Lundy says she’ll be able to develop problem-solving and reasoning skills through coding and programming by having the students follow a set of instructions to carry out the task and work up to not be giving step by step instructions, but rather a challenge they must complete through the code. The goal is for the students to not only be engaged, but develop higher order thinking skills.

Lundy says this grant funding creates a unique opportunity for students at GMC Prep School.

“Many schools have introduced robotics in their classrooms, however, this project aims to use robotics not as isolated challenges but rather that integrates the curriculum,” Lundy said. “Students are asked to program the robot to travel to various countries and speak of something famous there. They’re asked to move the robot to certain locations based on a mathematical equation. Students are also asked to create narrative stories using the robots to narrate it or act it out.”

Colonel Pamela Grant, Principal of Georgia Military College Prep School, says that GMC Prep is appreciative of the continued support of Tri-County EMC as they continue to award grants to its teachers, allowing the school to create more learning opportunities for its students.