GE volunteers instruct Lynn school kids

LYNN – Antonio Morales and Eddin Gomez knew their design was on the money.The Lego chair they built this week to hold a 10-inch teddy bear passed the stuffed-animal crash test and held together when they dropped it on the floor.And it had some comfort features like a reclining back that any stuffed bear would appreciate.”It’s fun to build things in different ways,” said Gomez as he weighed the pros and cons of adding a set of wheels to the bear’s chair.Morales, Gomez and about 55 other fifth-graders at Drewicz Elementary School are learning some of the basics of design and engineering with a crew of General Electric volunteers who run a six-week robotics program at the school.The chair is their first project and by the final week the kids will be using computer-design programs to build motorized cars that will drag race through school hallways.”I am so grateful they are here,” said Drewicz Principal Bernadette Stamm. “We are building the village, this is the community in action.”Stamm said Drewicz students frequently pass by GE’s facilities in their neighborhood. “GE is part of their lives, and it’s an integral part of the school,” she said.Jonathan Salt and Dave Roberge, two of the professional engineers who volunteer their time, agreed the program creates a connection between GE and the community that feels good. But Salt also said being in the classroom is a lot of fun.”I like hanging out with the kids and seeing their designs,” he said.Co-worker Rob Levin said much of the credit for the program goes to GE Volunteer Council, a team on the lookout for opportunities for employees who are interested in community service.”They got the GE funding to buy the Lego kits, we’re the grunt labor,” he said with a laugh. “Besides being a nice thing to do to get kids involved in design, what they’re leaning is part of MCAS.”Both Stamm and science teacher Mary Louvaris said the hands-on, interactive program really clicks with fifth-graders and opens the door to the high school robotics program that will be an option for them when they are older.”We could never get this much out of them with a book in front of them,” said Louvaris.She added the program has made science exciting.”These kids are not afraid of technology,” said Louvaris. “They sit right down and take right over and that’s just what these kids need.”Stamm added the design projects let kids with different abilities succeed in different ways. While Morales and Gomez built a solid chair meant to last, another pair of students unveiled their chair that came equipped with a cup holder, laser beam, foot rest and a telephone designed as a woman’s head.That type of creativity is always welcomed at Drewicz, especially when it’s part of a program that, as Stamm said, is building the background knowledge and vocabulary of engineering.Stamm wasn’t sure if all of the fifth-graders understood that engineering was a career path they could choose to follow, but Morales and Gomez are already making some plans.”I really like robots and I might make stuff that’s really important,” said Morales. “Maybe something with a heater and ice.”