New Kensington-Arnold elementary students create robot pets, learn coding at Digital Foundry

New Kensington-Arnold elementary students turned cardboard boxes into robotic animals over the course of an eight-week program at the Digital Foundry.

A giraffe, a chameleon, a dragon and a capybara were among the animals a group of fourth and fifth grade students from Roy A. Hunt Elementary in Arnold created and brought to life with coding, sensors, lights and motors.

“I like working with robots,” said Gabriel Fales, 10, of Arnold, whose robot was a chameleon. “I want to be an engineer that works on robots. This is an early start for me.”

Gabriel was among 21 students taking part in the STEM Explorers Club, a free after-school program exposing them to science, technology, engineering and math. The first-time program was started and funded by the R&D Impact Foundation, which partnered with ABC Create and the Digital Foundry.

Dr. Thomas G. Roberts Jr. and his wife, Dr. Susan DaSilva founded the R&D Impact Foundation in 2021. Thomas Roberts grew up in the New Kensington area and was a student of New Kensington-Arnold, said his sister, Nicole Roberts, an elementary principal in the district and director of the New Kensington Science Project. The couple now live in San Francisco, where the foundation provides STEM services to underserved youth.

“R&D Impact wanted to provide the same STEM advantages to students in New Kensington-Arnold communities,” Nicole Roberts said. “I am so very impressed and proud of the children who participated in this program. I have seen these 21 kids develop friendships, coding skills, self-esteem and a love for STEM over the past eight weeks.”

The students gathered at the Digital Foundry in downtown New Kensington on Tuesday evenings beginning March 14. Their parents got to see their creations this week during their last session.

Steven and Erin Reichenbaugh’s daughter, Willa, 9, made a capybara.

“She’s been really excited about it. She comes home talking about how much fun it is,” said Steven Reichenbaugh of New Kensington. “It’s nice to see after-school activities that aren’t sports.”

“It’s a good opportunity for the kids to learn about the STEM program,” said Gabriel’s dad, Joshua Fales. “He really enjoys it because he likes to work with his hands a lot.”

Matt Davis, head of curriculum for R&D Impact, designed the program. He said the students started with the art of creating their animals before moving on to the coding.

“The kids embraced the technology more than the artwork,” he said. “They know their way around screens. They know technology. It’s part of a kid’s life.”

Students coded their robots using tablet computers and a “drag and drop” system. Sensors activated multicolored LED lights that blinked and motors that did things such as opening their mouths or waging tails.

“The great thing about coding for kids is it’s visual. It’s not that hard,” Davis said. “To get a fourth grader to understand how to code, this is beautiful. It’s how it starts.

“You don’t want to overwhelm them,” he said. “You want them to leave saying, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ ”

Rachel Bitar, daughter of Nicole Roberts, was a teaching assistant for the program.

“It was a huge learning experience. These kids had no idea about programming,” she said. “It was a gift to watch them learn. It was really amazing seeing kids who didn’t know each other at the beginning become friends and help one another and learn together. It was beautiful to watch.”

Nicole Roberts said they plan to offer a few one-time events over the summer and another eight-week course in the fall. Exact dates have not been set.