Barnesville Schools Welcome New PLTW and VEX Robotics Teacher
Project Lead the Way classes and the VEX V5 Robotics Competition program have a new teacher ready to educate students about engineering principles.
Barnesville High School alumna Brianna Holskey has joined the Barnesville Exempted Village School District as the new PLTW and VEX V5 Robotics teacher this year.
Holskey is replacing former middle school teacher John Jordan who left Barnesville Schools to take a position elsewhere.
PLTW classes are designed for middle school and high school students to learn about engineering principles, such as circuitry, automation, robotics and design and modeling. Matt Hissom is the high school PLTW teacher. Fifth graders learn an introduction to PLTW, such as an intro to coding and building. Sixth graders learn circuitry. Seventh graders learn about automation and robotics and coding, while eighth graders learn design and modeling.
Holskey attended Wheeling University where she was an engineering science major, for which she received a scholarship. Then, she transferred to The Ohio State University her junior year on her pathway to aerospace engineering but decided to switch to education. She taught at Union Local Schools for three years prior to coming to the Barnesville schools, teaching problem solving classes, gifted education and eighth grade math.
Holskey took PLTW classes her junior and senior year of high school, which is the reason she started out in engineering in college.
“When I was deciding about my switch, I actually observed this classroom, (the middle school PLTW classroom) which is crazy,” she said. “And that’s what made me decide that I wanted to be a teacher.”
Holskey added she never thought she would be in this position so early in her career but is very excited for her new role.
The PLTW program has been offered for several years, and each student in the school has the opportunity to take the classes.
PLTW fosters creative thinking skills, problem solving skills and pushes students to think outside of the box, Hokskey said. She added students work in teams, which creates collaboration skills.
“They’re learning skills that are beneficial to them once they get out in their career field,” she said. “They’re already learning what it means to be a team and how to work effectively with each other.”
Along with the PLTW program, Holskey is the coordinator for the VEX Robotics program.
VEX V5 Robotics Competitions is a nationwide program where students compete in competitions. A new game is announced each year for student teams to build, design, program and test and drive robots themselves.
Barnesville middle and high school students create their own robots in their VEX V5 Robotics Competition program.
A networking component is also a part of the program as teams meet other students from around the state and possibly the country. Students are able to get ideas from one another and foster relationships.
Another portion of the program is a group of students who are in charge of the engineering notebook where they keep track of and document every step of the process throughout the competition.
Barnesville Schools have been competing in VEX Robotics for several years. Students have made it to the World Competitions nearly five times.
Two middle school and one high school team participate in these competitions. The high school team consists of freshmen through seniors while middle school teams are made up of seventh and eighth graders.
Different competitions for the program are offered throughout the state at different times throughout the school year. Students may qualify for states at these competitions and could potentially qualify for worlds.
Holskey finds the competitions in which the students can participate, and they are usually held after school.
Holskey believes students receive a great experience from the VEX Robotics program because it is very student centered, meaning they are doing almost everything themselves. The students are the ones brainstorming, problem solving, building and more.
She added the program is great for students who are interested in a science, technology, engineering and math career.
“It prepares them in that way,” Holskey said. “The fact that they’re in teams, they have to have strong collaboration skills and strong communication skills to be able to discuss their ideas.”
Eighth grader Blaine Thompson explained the process of creating a robot, which involves teamwork, watching other teams’ creations and designing.
Students in the program said they enjoy it because of the recognition they receive, meeting other students that share similar interests and learning about different jobs and career paths while doing something they enjoy.
“This is a great program to have in Barnesville. These kids get to be a part of opportunities that a lot of other nearby schools might not provide, and they get to have opportunities that could help to shape their future …,” Holskey said. “It’s definitely a program that we want to keep growing.”
Barnesville middle and high school students compete in competitions for their VEX V5 Robotics program, taught by new teacher Brianna Holskey.
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