Dear Friends,
On Friday March 31 and Saturday April 1st, the WJ Keenan RoboRaiders, a
Colombia, SC based HS Robotics team will promote literacy through storytelling
and puppetry. They are the only Robotics team with this platform. I am trying
to spread the word because as librarians, we should rejoice in the care these
students are putting into this work.
To see information on the team, please see, http://student.project-real.org
The RoboRaiders recommend increased funding for Libraries and Media Centers
and ask that all science and engineering students become active in advocacy
for their school media centers. Yesterday I presented a full storytelling
workshop for them with team building, the foundations and tenets of oral
history and the techniques they would need to try their hand at their
storytelling festival.
Last year in Columbia the RoboRaiders ran a book display and read to
children. They worked with RIF and gave books out. This year they will be even
busier. They have worked so hard for this cause IN ADDITION to building a
competitive robot for the main competition.
There are about 28,000 students who come to the national event. I believe that
if Librarians and Media Specialists knew more about this event, they would
help promote all of the United States (and International) teams and in turn
see some new faces in their underused science reference sections!
We hope to qualify to go to the Nationals. We made it last year because of our
Literacy initiative. We have expanded that effort this year. The kids are
taking a real leap forward in mentoring and recruiting the next generation
through creative reading and dramatics. I have been active in asking for help
from USC (Dr Pat Feehan), East Tenn. State University and the SC Storytellers
Association. Any advice or help that you have to offer will be shared with teh
other teams as I put more material together.
As a note: American Libraries will have a picture of our robot puppet (and two
students standing with me) in their April issue and the SCASL conference
chairs have been kind enough to ask me to lecture with the RoboRaiders next
year. Past President Martha Taylor was one of my teachers, and it was under
her inspiration that I created the initial webquest for teachers. It has
exploded from there.
I have put together assistance for other teams if they would like to try their
hand. I am contacting the teams as best I can. What I really need to do is
contact all Librarians and Media Specialists to let them know about this
exciting work. Please pass the word. I believe that by engaging our math and
science and engineering students as advocates for libraries and literacy, we
gain storng partners.
Please see: http://student.project-real.org/webquest/index.htm if you are
interested in the pages I have put togehter for these kids.
Thank you,
Peggy Cwiakala, MLIS, MCIS
Doctoral Program in Social Foundations of Education
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
www.geocities.com/peggycwiakala
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