Ben Lloyd of Highland Park Middle School shared the experiences and outcomes of the Mini Arcade build and Library Transport Vehicle (LTV) projects. Both projects were generously funded through BEF’s Beaverton’s Choice Program with matching funds provided by Intel Corp.
“We wanted to identify hands-on experiences to teach design and engineering in a fun and relevant way. We were able to achieve this by having the kids come up with an original arcade cabinet design and solving a challenge in our library.
The response to the mini arcade build was overwhelmingly positive among the kids. I can honestly say that the kids have had more fun through the design and building process than even playing with the arcades afterward, and that is saying a lot. There was a core group of about a dozen kids who were involved with the initial design of the mini cabinets and then dozens more who have gotten to tinker with the kits and learn how the Raspberry Pi software platform works.
As our team worked to minimize our expenses, we determined we had enough money to take on another design challenge. The students identified challenges in our school that they could design and assemble and came up with this amazing electric vehicle solution – the LTV. Over 100 of our current students worked on both the electric vehicle and the arcade games.
With the support of BEF and all of the donors to the project, we are positioned to carry out the same type of project each year. We developed a kit for the arcade cabinets which we can easily tear down and redesign with a different group of kids. We have found the Raspberry Pi boards to be challenging but also extremely open-ended for future use. The LTV also gives our students a clear visual reminder of what they can do.”
