It's been a long school year. Now that the weather is getting nicer and days are getting longer, both the students and I are in a reflective mood. As we've been looking back on the year, one of the highlights that comes up again and again is how this has been the year of the robot. Your donation was a highlight for some of my students most in need of something to help them get comfortable with English, and with those students further along in their development, but needing a challenge.

We've been tinkering at all times of the day, which was one of my goals when I requested this resource. Before school many students are here early but aren't willing to do do school work. By giving them a robotics kit to build and program its been a low pressure, low stakes way for them and I to talk, and for them to forge friendships with one another. Others prefer to tinker during study halls and lunch periods, and still others have come to my after-school club to learn the ins and outs of how to make something with these kits. What they've been learning is how to use English with me and one another. They've learned how to use their hands to build something they've imagined. They've learned how to bounce back from setbacks when they put it together incorrectly or when their vision doesn't represent the reality of what they've made. A few have even started to ask, "Now what?" and begun to build and program completely original designs.

This robotics kit is the ultimate tool for beginners and experts, providing opportunities for growth to everyone, including me. Now that I've started to see the challenges students have and the interests they express, I am already planning for how to use these kits next year.

Thank you for providing us with such a wonderful tool that will inspire my students and I for years to come.

- Mr. Wolf