NASA hosts programming workshops for students of ‘WV Schools for the Deaf and Blind

FAIRMONT, W.Va (WDTV) - On Saturday NASA’s Independent Verification & Validation Program’s Education Resource Center (ERC) welcomed students from the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind. The students participated in rocket, robot and drone workshops. Providing courses for robotics teams since 2011, NASA’s workshops for visual and hearing-impaired students took a brief hiatus because of COVID-19. Now that the program is back, it has expanded its competitive STEM opportunities, thanks to the partnership with the schools. Todd Ensign, a program manager with NASA ERC, says these lessons are just the tip of the iceberg and could inspire these students far more than they expect.

“The population we are working with is often overlooked,” said Ensign. “Because a person may have a visual[or hearing] impairment, has nothing to do with their intelligence or skill sets or their ability to understand rocket science. The significance of what we are doing here today is we’re engaging these students when they are in middle and high school and giving them a chance to learn about the compulsion system of a rocket. How do I ensure the most aerodynamically stable rocket? How do I code this robot to perform specific tasks? These are the same skills they’ll need for NASA to land on the moon, on Mars and other future endeavors.”

The first step in learning those skills came with a hands-on mini rocket course. Students followed Ensign’s design instructions and developed launchable rockets. Then, NASA’s instructors walked the class through programming lessons on robots and drones. Roy Wilson, a student at WVSBD told 5News that even though she might not see herself in engineering or programming, but enjoyed her experience at NASA’s ERC.

“I really felt surprised and looking at all the stuff for the first time, it’s really surprising,” said Wilson.

Qualifying students have the opportunity to participate in the programming nationals in May.

Copyright 2024 WDTV. All rights reserved.