February 22, 2022
from Marc Shapiro, Upper School science teacher and robotics coach
If you’ve been in the Lansing Sports Center recently, you’ve surely seen the large wooden structure on Court 4. Maybe you even saw Michael Wilke ’16 working on it. The curiosity some people had about the structure made me overcome my reluctance at sending all employee emails, in order to compose this description of what the MPA Robotics team is about.
FIRST Robotics is an international organization headquartered in New Hampshire. It has four levels, starting with FIRST LEGO League (FLL) for elementary schoolers, all the way up to FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for high schoolers. At MPA we have only an FRC team. Per capita, Minnesota has one of the highest participation rates in the U.S. There are more FRC teams in Minnesota than varsity hockey teams!
Each year, we are given a new “game” and a limited amount of time to create a robot to play the game. The robot must be designed, built, programmed, wired, and tested under strict constraints. A new robot is built every year; the game changes so much that there’s nothing from the previous year that is useful, other than possibly a drive chassis. With their batteries and bumpers, robots can weight up to 150 pounds. Teams are aided by adult mentors who are volunteers from the community, but the students have ultimate responsibility for designing, building, and operating the robot. Students can go the technical route and learn about building, coding, electronics and controls, computer-aided design, or using a CNC router, or several of these. They can also choose the non-technical path and work on such things as fundraising, marketing, outreach, and social media. Our team has Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and a still-under-renovation website. We are like a small business, and have to raise all our operating funds; our budget for this season is $24,000. Read More
Friday, April 22, 2022
from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
from Renee Wright, Lower School Director
from Mark Segal, Upper School Director
from Dr. Bill Hudson, Head of School
Middle School Café Reimagined—Together We Tube Pre-Event Fun
Microfunding Grants
If you have been by the Makerspace recently, there’s no doubt that you’ve seen the quaint treehouses that are spread across the hallway for all to enjoy! This project was a second grade collaboration with Mr. Braafladt in the Makerspace. Though this was only the first time that students participated in this project, it seems as if another MPA tradition has begun as the children, teachers, and other community members passing by appreciate the end result–and had so much fun in the making!
The inspiration for this fun activity began in November with a project called the Nature Walk. To prepare, the second grade students read many nature-centric stories and completed a plethora of great writing pieces to sharpen their observational and sensational skills for the world outside of the classroom. The Nature Walk took place on our campus and children were tasked with observing, analyzing, being present with their surroundings, and picking up objects that could be included for building the Treehouses. After the Nature Walk portion of the second grade unit, the classes read, “Everything You Need for a Treehouse” by Carter Higgins. This book includes gorgeous images along with a lively description of all the essential elements of a treehouse, from wood and rope, to rafters and ladders. This descriptive picture book perfectly “captures the universal timelessness of treehouses and celebrates all the creativity and adventure they spark.”
Before the eager students could get started with building in the Makerspace, it was crucial that they learned and understood the steps within the Design Thinking Process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. The children worked with a partner to collaborate—another important aspect emphasized in this project—and design a structure that is stable, had a way to get up and down, had a some type of roof to protect, walls to hold up the canopy, and incorporated nature elements collected from their exploratory walk. Three building sessions took place in the Makerspace where they started with a sketch of both a birds eye view and an eye level drawing, and then began building from there. After completing their amazing constructions, the students were asked to write a descriptive piece about them, and why they had specific features, how they managed to build it, and how they collaborated with their team.