Alabama Governor Kay Ivey visited Dalraida Elementary School in Montgomery on Monday to inspect the new robotics and building/engineering labs there. Ivey was accompanied by education leaders and members of the capital press corps.
“When I was in Fourth Grade, we didn’t do robotics,” Gov. Ivey said. “We just were memorizing our multiplication tables.”
The third and fourth-grade students in the robotics lab demonstrated their proficiency at building and operating the little robots that lift and manipulate objects in tasks analogous to construction equipment. Like robots at a factory, they were being operated by the children who assembled them from kits.
Dr. Bryan Cutter is the principal at Dalriada Elementary School.
Principal Cutter said that there are robotics labs at the high school and middle school levels, but their school was the first in the region to have a dedicated robotics lab in the elementary school lab.
The students in the engineering/building lab demonstrated their ability to stack blocks and sticks in order to build a bridge over a construction paper river. The students were working in groups of three.
“You did a great job,” Ivey told one group of students after they completed their bridge and were able to roll a toy car over it without the structure collapsing. “You did an amazing job building that.”
“This is an exciting visit,” Ivey told reporters.
Ivey said that she would like to see more labs such as these across the state to get children interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields).
“We have a long way to get there,” Ivey acknowledged.
“They view it as a game,” Principal Cutter said.
Cutter explained that the school is bringing scientists and engineers to interact with the students. “The students have met athletes and musicians, but they are not used to seeing scientists and engineers,” he stated.
Cutter said that the children work in groups. “We want them to learn collaboration. We are looking at teaching them to be good citizens of the world.”
“We are excited to be here,” said State Superintendent Eric Mackey. “We have several labs like this around the state. This is a fairly new program.”
Mackey said that it is important to get students learning how to manipulate the robots and do early coding in elementary and middle school.
“These are not cheap labs,” Mackey said. “The robotics kits have to be purchased, and they wear out.”
“Finding teachers to do it and getting them trained,” is the major limiting factor, Mackey said.
“We anticipate that we are going to ask for more money next year,” Mackey said.
This was the first time that the Governor has addressed reporters in three weeks. During that time, there were unsubstantiated rumors about her health. Ivey was peppered with questions about her health and possible medical treatments.
One reporter asked the Governor if she had had a medical treatment requiring her to stay overnight in a hospital.
“It seems like some of you want to will these rumors into being, and that is just not going to happen,” Ivey responded.
Ivey said that she thanked “God every day for giving me a clean bill of health.”
Ivey is the oldest governor in the country. She will turn 78 on December 21.
Ivey is running for re-election in the November 8 general election where she faces Democratic nominee Yolanda Flowers, Libertarian Dr. James Blake, and independent Jared Budlong.
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