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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWatson, along with fellow FMS teachers, Karen Quintana and Steve Hammer, formed eight teams of kids who practiced drone flying and coding \u2014 software programming that needs to be written for the drones to fly. Watson pointed out that in competitions, every team has the exact same model of drone, so the testing falls much more on the students\u2019 hands-on skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the competition, one of the categories is called \u201calliance flying.\u201d Watson explained that students from different schools observe each other\u2019s skills and draw up teams that could include some of the best pilots or coders from various schools. Watson said that high school competitors approached her middle school students and asked them to join the high school drone teams as alliance partners. That\u2019s the reputation the FMS team holds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May, FMS students achieved great success at the Drone Competition National Championship in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Watson reported that the teams finished nationally fourth and eighth for flying and 10th and 23rd for piloting and coding skills. At the same time, Watson was recognized as the 2024 National Coach of the Year for the REC Foundation through the national championship hosted by Tennessee Valley Robotics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the team came home, Watson said, \u201cI am grateful for our fabulous coaching staff, supportive families, and amazing students!\u201d To FMS parents and local team sponsors, she added, \u201cThank you for believing in us!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Watson\u2019s connection to NASA also led some of her students to participate in a Q&A video session with astronaut Loral O\u2019Hara at the International Space Station. Watson said that students submitted their questions via video, and then, through a NASA satellite downlink, O\u2019Hara answered the questions on camera from the space station. Watson\u2019s students and some from Brookville High School were able to do a similar but live on-camera Q&A exchange with former astronaut Fred Haise from Apollo 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The robotics design side of the curriculum is also tied to space education. Watson said that her students draw topographical maps of Mars. Then, students build a robot vehicle to navigate specific locations and planet features that serve as key destination points. Additionally, the Mars vehicle has a drone attached to it that must be flown successfully from one point to another on the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the summer, Watson and other teachers conducted drone, robotics, and rocketry camps for fourth through eighth graders, which were taught by many of her former FMS students who are now freshmen and sophomores at the high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why such a strong focus on the STEM curriculum? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Watson explained, \u201cI want to share my love for math and science. They say 80% of jobs that are available for graduating students are STEM \u2014 then we should be spending 80% of our time on STEM.\u201d She added a side note, \u201cWhat if this is what it takes for a student to go into science or math?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Watson, having just one kid make that move because of their experience with the FMS drones, robotics, or space curricula would make all the time and energy totally worthwhile. GN <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WHAT DO space exploration, drone piloting, and robotics have in common? If your child is a student at Forest Middle School (FMS), all three subjects are taught as part of the school\u2019s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and career and technical education curriculum. The combination of the three subjects owes much of its start […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":22238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/lynchburg-va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/08\/3-3-1024x683.png\")
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