by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
ROELAND PARK — Drones wove in and out of obstacles in the parish hall of St. Agnes Church here on April 13 as the students flying them navigated both the course and the challenges that arose along the way.
It was the first-of-its-kind drone robotics competition between Holy Cross School in Overland Park and St. Agnes School.
“They have STREAM opportunities starting in pre-K all the way through eighth grade,” said Bethy (Bregant) Wille, STREAM director at St. Agnes, of her students. “They have foundations of coding as they move through school.
“Something like this is almost the pinnacle of where they’re at, where they can put those skills to the test and push themselves even further.”
The curriculum for the program was provided by STARBASE Kansas City, which reached out to Wille to see if she’d be interested in starting it at St. Agnes.
She shared the opportunity with the Brown Family Charitable Foundation (BFFKC) cohort of STREAM (science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and math) directors in the Kansas City area and connected with Angela Kopp, science coordinator at Holy Cross.
Their students spent weeks learning about and practicing with the drones before the competition.
Each school brought a total of six seventh and eighth grade students to compete in two areas: one where they used a controller to operate the drones and one where they coded on an iPad to make the drones move.
“Students demonstrated real skill in navigating through the cages with control and precision,” said Kopp, “which looks straightforward with a controller but actually requires practice and an understanding of how the drone responds to air currents in different spaces.
“Students were even having to compensate for the air conditioner, which emulates real life variables that engineers can encounter.”
Kopp implemented the drone program in her eighth grade STREAM class, and Wille co-taught an opt-in STREAM drone elective with middle school math teacher Mary Callahan.
“They’ve gone through the basics of coding, the basics of piloting the drones and, recently, we started practicing the different challenges they have with search and rescue [and fire spotting],” said Wille.
Students like Holy Cross eighth grader Kayden Ramos were eager for the opportunity to compete their skills. He’s been working with drones since his dad bought him one for Christmas in fifth grade.
“So, when I heard that this drone competition came up, I instantly wanted to join,” he said.
Working with the drones had its challenges.
“We’d always have to check batteries were charged, if wings are where they’re properly supposed to be and everything’s on,” said Ramos. “It takes a lot of work.”
St. Agnes eighth grader Fiona Harper said the sensitivity of the drone was also an obstacle.
“It’s hard to predict what the drone is going to do, because sometimes it has good days and sometimes it has bad days,” she said. “It’s the little things that affect it and make it unpredictable.”
According to Kopp, providing students with opportunities like the drone program is right in line with the mission of Catholic schools.
“The Catholic Church was responsible for setting up universities, for developing the scientific method,” she said.
“The Catholic Church has played a really integral part in not only science but the advancement of technology — with the lens of [it being used] for the common good,” she added.
She’s excited for the work Catholic schools are doing to advance their STREAM offerings.
“Our Catholic schools offer these opportunities for our kids,” she said, “and we offer it through the lens of a faith-based, Catholic worldview, which can really have an impact on what our kids decide to do in college and later in life.”
