Curtis Makers Present at Region 11

Throughout this year, some of our Curtis students have met on Wednesdays in the library for maker club activities. These activities have changed throughout the year, based on student feedback. Sometimes we were creating with Legos & LittleBits, sometimes programming our Speros & Ollies. Sometimes we were working on green screen creations, and sometimes we were coding in the computer lab, using Scratch and Code.org. 

We have had visitors drop by to see us, one of them being Mrs. Erin Griffith from Region 11 Education Service Center (ESC). She was very impressed with what our students were doing with coding and robotics and asked if we would share our experiences with adult learners.  The group we were presenting to were education leaders from all over Region 11. Mrs. Griffith wanted them to see the way our students were taking charge of their learning and the after school maker club.  Curtis Makers were more than willing to share!  What a wonderful opportunity to tell our story and give our students a voice. The hardest part was narrowing down our presenters because they ALL wanted to share!

Students selected to travel to Region 11 divided up into teams and chose what they wanted to present. They chose to present about the green screen, Spheros, coding, LittleBits & Makey-Makey. The students decided on the things they needed to bring and how they would present. They were completely responsible for their items and their presentation. It was great to see them take charge of this!

When we arrived, our Curtis Makers got busy setting up their stations. The students took great pride in creating a display that would showcase their maker item. Before our presentations began, we enjoyed a catered lunch in the dining area. We were even able to check out their cool Collaboration Station with some moving chairs we are sure we need at Curtis!

Our students presented to two different groups. I shared a little about our journey with a short presentation. As I would get to different parts of our journey, one of our students would come up and share. It was so wonderful to hear their confidence as they told the attendees about what they had learned and accomplished.





The students answered questions as the adult learners came around and talked with them about what they were presenting. They did a great job of sharing their knowledge of what they had brought to present.

I have to say, this was one of those days that affirmed that there is so much right about education today and this generation of learners! These students were well-spoken and clearly able to explain all of the great things they have been doing this year during our after school maker club! They told our story well, and I was so very proud of them!

Here is a look at our day...

Rocket Launch-Take 2

This past week, the Makers (Coding & Robotics club) finally launched their rockets that they had designed with the Tarleton State Aeronautics team! It was a beautiful spring day, albeit a little breezy, and we were very excited to get outside and see how our rockets performed!

Before we headed outside, we made some last minute adjustments to our rockets. The students listened carefully as Michael and Andrew explained what we were going to do.

Michael & Andrew, from the TSU Rocket Team, arranged three launch sites, positioned on the hill behind our school. This made for a wonderful viewing area. The students lined up to watch the rockets blast off.

Most times, the rockets would go off without a hitch, but every so often adjustments would have to be made before the rocket would launch.

The students were thrilled when their rocket would go off, and then would race to the landing site to collect it. Here are most of the launches, including the rocket launch from the week before. It is so fun to listen to their squeals of excitement!




Curtis Elementary students loved having this experience and truly appreciate all of the time and effort Michael and Andrew put into this project. We also appreciate Dr. Keith Emmert who connected us with the Tarleton State University Aeronautics program. This has been a great learning experience for all of us!