Plainview teen leads free robotics workshops
Anjali Ponugupati, of Plainview, recently developed and led six free robotics workshops for elementary and middle schoolers at the Bethpage Public Library. Credit: Bethpage Union Free School District/Francesca Russell
Anjali Ponugupati believes it’s never too early to introduce children to the world of robotics.
Ponugupati, of Plainview, recently developed and led six free robotics workshops for elementary and middle school students at the Bethpage Public Library. The classes culminated with a challenge that asked the kids to build robots that could navigate an obstacle course using motors and Lego kits she borrowed from her school.
The Bethpage High School senior, 17,r who is vice president of research and design for the school’s robotics team, said she was inspired to coordinate the classes after realizing that younger students in some neighboring communities do not have access to lessons in science, technology, engineering and math — also known as STEM.
“My goal was to basically introduce them to STEM so they can understand if this is something they like,” said Ponugupati, who pursued the project as part of her Gold Award, the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA. “I ran the sessions for one hour, but eventually they came to last two hours because the kids were really into it.”
Ponugupati, a member of Girl Scout Troop 3254, attracted potential students by posting flyers promoting her workshops in about half a dozen public libraries in Nassau County. Her parents also spread the word about her educational efforts on social media and about a dozen children in grades 4 through 8 participated in the program.
The workshops started with a basic introduction to robotics and progressed to topics including robot movement, programming and sensors. In the final lesson students used the robots they built to tackle tasks such as avoiding stacked objects on an obstacle course, she said.
“It definitely went better than I expected,” said Ponugupati, who surveyed each student at the course’s conclusion to gauge how the workshops impacted their interest in the field. “By the end, their answers became so detailed and they were talking about specific aspects of engineering that they really enjoyed.”
Andrew Choi, director of technology for the Bethpage Union Free School District, called her “truly inspiring.”
“When Anjali presented me with this idea, I was 100% on board with supporting her in whatever way we could,” Choi said. “This was a great way to promote robotics and STEM awareness to not only our school community, but other school communities as well.”
Ponugupati's other achievements include co-founding her school’s Biology Olympiad team, which she said helps prepare students to compete in the USA Biology Olympiad, as well as being an assistant teacher with SiliconAndhra ManaBadi, a nonprofit that teaches the Telugu language, which is spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
