Submitted Photo Lake Shore Middle School’s Soaring Eagles Robotics Club visits SUNY Fredonia.

Students from Lake Shore Middle School’s Soaring Eagles Robotics Club visited the Computer and Information Sciences Department at SUNY Fredonia for a “Code for a Day” experience. Students first heard from Professor Greg Cole, who led students through a series of 20 coding activities themed around “The Grinch.”

Then, Professor Derrik Decker (a Lake Shore Central graduate), gave students an overview of Multimedia Systems, an introductory course to 2D and 3D animations. Students learned how students at the college use open-source software Blender. They were also introduced to the possibilities of 3D modeling and the SUNY Fredonia course that uses a program called Unity to apply the skill into game development. Professor Decker stressed the importance of understanding concepts like sequences, selections, and loops as these are used in all aspects of programming.

Students then heard from Dr. Andy Karafa, the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Dr. Karafa discussed the importance of technology advancements and how they impact students and their college programming. He also talked about the trends toward increased creativity and collaboration within these programs.

Students were given a guided tour of the campus, including the construction taking place on the new Computer Science, Math, and Physics state-of-the-art learning space.

Thanks to the Robotics Club and their SUNY Fredonia experience, these Middle School students will likely be coding for much more than a single day.

The club is facilitated by Mike Kromer, Middle School math teacher.