HO_042519

8 | April 25, 2019 | the homer horizon news
homerhorizon.com
Porterbots members share their skills at Makerfest
Mary Compton
Freelance Reporter
Children attending Chicago
Southland Makerfest
could nott wait to get to
the Porterbots 4292 booth.
Making Play-Doh circuits,
a few Lockport
Township High School
students volunteered their
time March 30 to teach
young students about science,
technology and engineering.
LTHS student and
member of the Porterbots
4292 Chance Tyler was
thrilled to be teaching
grade school students.
“I’m here today to share
the knowledge of STEM,”
Tyler said. “I’m showing
kids about electricity
making Play-Doh circuits
and showing them the
robot we built. I helped
build the arm mechanism.
I’m pursuing a career in
robotics, so this is great
experience.”
This was the fifth year
for Chicago Southland
Makerfest, which was
held in Mokena. The
Porterbots 4292 were one
of 30 exhibitors featuring
from building circuit
boards to making 3-D
objects.
LTHS teacher Jeff Brown (right) shows Jack Fisher the
robot made by Lockport Township students.
Leading the Lockport
Township students was
Jeff Brown, tech education
teacher and robotics
club sponsor at LTHS.
“We’re starting a class
Bob Spychalski
BROKER
• Customized Marketing Campaign
• Free professional & drone photography
• Strong online & social media exposure
• My listing’s SOLD faster
than market average
• Local Resident
630.728.8490
spysold.com
PRIDE REALTY
BOB
SPYCHALSKI
5 Star Rating
next year at [Lockport
Township High School]
in robotic engineering,”
Brown said. “Because I
teach engineering [and]
[computer-aided design],
my schedule is full, so
it will be someone else
teaching the class.
“Today, we brought
some small engineering
projects for the kids
to make. We brought our
competition robot we
made this year. The robot
is always named Lenny.
Every year, it’s a little
more challenging and a
little bit different. Lenny
[has a] 120-inch perimeter
and [is] about three feet
high. This year’s challenge
was plastic panels
putting them on rocket
ships.”
As Brown spoke, a line
LTHS teacher Jeff Brown shows Sarah Margalus and her 2-year-old son, Jayson,
a robot put together by Lockport students March 30 during Makerfest in Mokena.
Photos by Mary Compton/22nd Century Media
Lockport Township sophomore Chance Tyler (right) helps Logan Berg make a small
project using Play-Doh as Chance’s mother, Maggie, watches.
of kids were waiting to
operate Lenny. Porterbots
4292 is the first robotics
competition team based in
Lockport.
“We’re called robotics,
but it actually is an
after-school engineering
program,” Brown said.
“Think of all the stuff that
is designed and built out
there. It takes engineering
to do that. We train students
to learn engineering
using computers. We
have students specializing
in programs, we have the
builders and the manufacturers.
We have a pneumatic
system every year
on our robot. We started
this eight years ago to
get the kids interested in
STEM.”