Ashli Cook, Gifted Facilitator at Central Elementary School has been awarded a $500 grant from the AFCEA Teaching Tool Grant Program. This grant will allow Mrs. Cook to purchase materials for robotics instruction.

The Robot Trio she will purchase and utilize offers a learning continuum across the age spectrum from kindergarten on up. The Bee­Bot is targeted for children from 5 to 8 years old and teaches coding and logical thinking skills while they are having fun. This meets Georgia Standards for Gifted Education. Blue­Bot is Bee­Bot's more sophisticated sibling, offering remote programming via its Bluetooth interface. Pro­Bot builds on the coding experience to include setting precise angles and distances, creating longer and more complex programs, creating and incorporating sub­procedures and sensors into the program, and drawing shapes and designs which engages students of any age. Students can apply what they’ve learned with the robots from the previous year and build upon that knowledge by working with the higher level robots. This robotics activity provides students the opportunity to work at higher Depth of Knowledge levels, as they are creating and programming. Mrs. Cook will be recognized on January 28, 2016 at the AFCEA awards luncheon.