By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–Several members of Union City Middle School Science Club are finding out that the library is about more than just books.
Thanks to a grant received by the Obion County Public Library and the generosity of the Friends of the Library group, eight UCMS 8th-graders are building and programming robots on Saturdays at the local library.
OC Public Library Director Michele Barnes applied for and received a $3,000 grant from the Tennessee Library and Archives Association, and the FOL group contributed another$2,800 to fully fund the robotics program.
Only 10 libraries in the state received the grant.
Dr. Kathleen Ericson, a computer science professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, teaches the young students, who first built their robots and are now programming them for specific tasks and working with coding in preparation for competition to be held in December.
Five other local schools are also participating in the program, along with a pair of home-school groups.
The teams are made up of up to 10 students per group. Each picked a team color to represent its team and the library bought each member a T-shirt to represent that team.
Members of the UCMS team are Hayden Moon, Taylor Baker, Nolan Chandler, Kate Crabtree, Reagan Durkee, Chloe Meade, CJ Lamb and Madeline Underwood.
Photo by Mike Hutchens.
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