Just a few weeks later, and our new team is really coming together! Karen, Paroma, Lauren, and Kayla have become team leaders of our new team: the Seeds to STEM and Design initiative. Seeds to STEM and Design includes the four leaders in addition to 12 new students. The team meets twice a week after school to train the new members and prepare for next September.
The team leaders began by showing our new members the phase 1 layout board from last year and introducing them to the invention and our goals with Citizen Schools. We showed them each individual component of our invention, and explained to them how all the parts interact with each other.
To introduce the new members to Arduino, we had them practice coding the hand-swipe sensor. They each took a turn building the circuit and programming the board, to ensure each member could become familiar with the system.
Then we moved onto a larger, more daunting challenge: going over the instruction booklets we sent to the Saint Joseph’s School and recreating the interior of the pedestrian alert system. Our new members took it all in stride! We went around in a circle, taking turns doing each subsequent step. Although some of them are nervous, they have all been doing an amazing job and having fun.
Thus far, everything has been going great, and nothing has blown up!
– Lauren, Paroma and Karen
