From the Desk of Academic Dean Martha Griswold
By writing this blog, I hope to accomplish several things. I hope to give those who are looking at Chatham Hall an immediate sense of what goes on in our classrooms -- and those classrooms extend beyond the four walls of any classroom or building. I want to let our students know that the work that they do in their classes is what makes this place tick...and that adults in the community notice and appreciate the excitement that our students bring to our academic program. It is important that people see how we work with girls and how classes are framed to best prepare girls for the futures to which they aspire. I also wish to keep alumnae in touch with Chatham Hall, to let them have fun hearing about former teachers and classes. Enjoy!
Et tu, Robot?
December 8, 2011 at 10:25am
If one of the on-campus weekend activities included a scavenger huntasking students to track down a photo of Justin Bieber, a Christmas
Tree, a set of allen wrenches, a mobile, a ratchet set, an orange
bowling ball and a wooden ramp, many students would probably scratch
their head and scatter in any number of directions. There is a group of
students, though, who, with a glimmer in their eyes, would take off for
one destination, knowing that victory would be theirs. This group, Chatham Hall's first Robotics Team, would know that in Shaw
Science building, in the physics room, they would be able to grab all
of the listed items (Photo of Justin Bieber? Just grab the mobile with
his photo that hangs from the ceiling! Christmas tree? Decorated with
physics-related decorations made by students.) Well, the bowling ball
might be hard to get a good purchase on, but these girls could probably
figure a way to employ the ramp to move the ball in a forward direction
using their knowledge of momentum and slope. Senior Meredith Lee, who has a strong interest in things robotic,
created a Discovery Challenge for herself last year, the focus of which
was robotics. Part of that Discovery Challenge involved doing the
research regarding the steps necessary to start a competitive robotics
team here at Chatham Hall. Thanks to her and to her faculty sponsor,
physics teacher Molly Thomas, a group of students now meets regularly to
design, build, program, and learn how to manipulate a 17" x17" x 17 inch
robot, complete with arm and the eventual ability, when all the bugs are
worked out, to roll the bowling ball and pick up some small small
plastic milk crates. On a recent Wednesday night, the group gathered around a table in the
physics classroom. Three adults were present as a support system: Molly
Thomas, and two current parents, both with vast experience coaching
successful, local robotics teams -- Dan Waters and David Wilton. On the evening that I was able to observe, there was excitement over
the fact that at the previous meeting time, the robot, silver and shiny,
much like an overgrown erector set model, but with wires and and
receivers and transmitters, had had a successful foray across the floor
of the physics room. In the intervening time, however, difficulties had
occurred, necessitating some reprogramming. Meredith and Mr. Waters were
at the computer as Meredith worked through some of the issues. At the other table, Antoinette Flowers '14, Rocío Rodriguez '12, and
Amy MacDonough '13 (Kathryn Waters '14 is also a member of the team,
another duty calling her away), skillfully tossed around allen wrenches,
grabbed ratchet tools, and added necessary nuts and bolts to secure the
construction. Three to four heads, at any one moment, bent and huddled
around the robot, building, speculating, figuring out what, in order to
balance the robot, taking into account the eventual movement of the arm,
had to be moved or adjusted. Time was something of an issue because the girls will have their first
FTC FIRST (First Technical Challenge -- For Inspiration and Recognition
of Science and Technology) competition on December 17, in Richmond. They
will get up early (very early) and make the trip to the site where they
will be paired with a group unknown to them. The two groups will work
together to complete the challenges (bowling ball roll and crate
pick-up). The robot needs to be up and running soon. Recently, the group
was having to rethink the arm and the overall balance of the robot.
Hopefully, there will be resolution to that issue quickly. Girls and tools. My dad always says, "You can't manage people if you
haven't held a tool." Having worked side by side with him on many
different projects involving power and hand tools, I feel that there is
something to this. When you use tools, you have to make decisions about
what works, what doesn't, and while the tool does not talk back the way
a person does, if the tool is not the right one for the job, you know
pretty quickly. The casualness with which this robotic team would look
at one tool, set it down, and reach for another speaks of a level of
comfort with the materials at hand. It speaks of collaboration and
knowledge coupled with the ability to make a decision, and see that
something else would work better. It is problem-solving at its best.
What these girls learn here they will take, of course, to robotic
challenges, but also to work they will do with other people, with those
they will support, work with, and even befriend. For some, these lessons
will support their future job and career choices and also help them in
ways that will not be restricted to the laboratory. It is about taking
risks…risking to see what will work, and the courage to change stream
mid-course. So, with two competitions in the near future (the December one and then
a second in January), the team has some good work to do in order to
prepare. It can be tough, dealing with a machine that seems to have a
mind of its own, but these girls have built something from the ground up
and are unrelenting in their desire to figure out and resolve any
problems, and to learn how to make things work while working
together…girls against(?) machine. Martha Griswold
Academic Dean Martha A. Griswold, Academic Dean
Chatham Hall
800 Chatham Hall Circle
Chatham, VA 24531
434.432.5617 Chatham Hall is at the forefront of all-girls education. We value
academic excellence, inspire integrity, and instill global
responsibility in tomorrow's leaders.
