The fifth grade orchestra performed and enrichment program director Sandi D’Amico presented her coding and robotics program.
Two presentations were conducted at the Voorhees Board of Education meeting last Wednesday night at E.T. Hamilton School.
Principal Andrew Moskowitz welcomed parents and residents to start off the evening.
“Every person who comes through the door of Hamilton School should feel welcome that their children learn academics, as well as social behaviors that we expect them to care for each other,” he said.
The first presentation was the fifth grade orchestra, which performed “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles. They sang the lyrics and also played ukuleles and violins, and music teacher Matt Totora played the piano.
Totora said the children were nervous before they went on stage, and to calm their nerves, he told them he would get the audience to help out. He did just that and had the audience members sing the chorus, which brought everyone together.
“Music brings people together in so many different ways,” he said. “Music has the ability to change people’s lives, and I see it every day here where some of the more introverted kids, they love coming to music and they can express themselves in a different way than other kids who play sports and do other activities. I think it’s hugely important.”
The second presentation was enrichment program director Sandi D’Amico demonstrating and explaining her coding and robotics program.
“As part of the enrichment program at Hamilton school, we’ve incorporated robotics learning into our curriculum by using the Sphero robotic balls and the lighting lab,” she explained. “These activities are hands-on and engaging. These fun, interactive challenges inspire students to use creativity, curiosity and a desire to build mazes, ramps and obstacle courses. Their minds are engaged with critical thinking as they problem-solve and develop codes using the lighting lab act.”
A Sphero ball is a robotic ball that connects to an iPad using Bluetooth technology. D’Amico explained the children use different applications to control the Sphero and the lighting lab is one of the applications they use the most. They are able to change speed and color, and the older children are also able to program the Sphero using coding.
“When we get into coding, they learn more about the duration of time, they are able to judge how long the ball is going roll for and the speed, and they talk about angles — whether they want the ball to go straight, 90 degrees or at a right angle,” D’Amico explained.
The majority of the children in the Enrichment Program are in grades third through fifth, but first and second graders were also represented in the video presentation played for the public.
“Using Sphero is all about your imagination and coding and having fun,” fifth grader Ava Malamut said in the video presentation. “You need to brainstorm, have help and create, and let your imagination run wild. You’re also going to learn using trial and error and you’ve got to discuss improvements with your team, otherwise nobody is going to know what to do. You’ve got to make changes based on what you learn.”
In other news, the 2017–2018 school calendar year was released and is available online. Superintendent Raymond Brosel said because the first day of September is a Friday and Labor Day is being observed on Monday, Sept. 4th, the board thought it would be a better decision to start school after Labor Day. Teachers will have in-service days on Sept. 5 and 6, and students’ first day is Wednesday, Sept. 7.
