February 12, 2010- El Paso, Texas
Martina Valverde-KFOX Morning News
It's a public school with a different kind of focus. The Harmony Science Academy teaches students about math, science and technology. It's molding future engineers.
Legos, metal, wires, computers, not what you'd typically see in a middle school or even high school classroom. This group of students however, is different. Scattered pieces all around the room eventually lead to the building of a robot. "They need to find a solution for the transportation problems. It's not just a robot game. And also, Ismael Turel.
That's exactly what they did. They were given a task and have just a few weeks to build the robot, write a research paper and even document by video their progress. They spent several nights and weekends creating the robot, even interviewing city officials to have as better understanding of how they can really help El Paso's transportation.
"They have to pick up these loops and knock down the green things, and knock down these walls. So what we do is come up with a strategy to have a simple robot made, but that can accomplish these complex tasks," said Israel Castro, one of the students.
These students are now taking their robot to Atlanta. That's because they just won the championships that were held in Amarillo. The Robotigers are making some adjustments to their already successful project but they are more than ready for the national attention, but more importantly they are ready for their futures.
"We're just trying to focus on engineering because those are the kind of jobs that are needed here in El Paso," said Castro.
The team leaves for Atlanta on April 14th.
