STEM Minute| Becoming engineers inside the classroom

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) — Students at Gregory Intermediate School are coming together to solve problems and work as a team.

The 5th grade students in Mrs. Villanueva's class are determined to demonstrate that they are the best engineers in the classroom here in Central Illinois. The competition has attracted classes from across the region, all of whom have already proven themselves as top contenders among local groups. They are showcasing their unique Rube Goldberg devices.

Emmett Ashley, a 5th grade student at Gregory Intermediate School, says, "It was kind of difficult sometimes we had problems we had challenges, but we overcame them."

The class process begins with a simple turn and the fall of a marble, just two steps to complete a simple task.

Cinda Villanueva, a teacher at Gregory Intermediate School, says, "These kids just need to know how to work together, they need the science, they need the technology, they need the math."

Over the past 15 years, Villanueva has dedicated her teaching career to growing her students through engineering in the classroom. The program brings a volunteer from the local community into the classroom to help the students build their one-of-a-kind projects.

Todd Davis, a volunteer and Corn Plant Manager at ADM, says, "We start with a blank sheet of paper on day one. We know what we're supposed to do, and this year was to open a book."

The first step in the process for students, is starting with the design phase. Once the students have an idea, they use everyday materials to bring their ideas to life. They will use these materials to complete the simple task of closing a book while demonstrating the concepts that they have learned throughout the process of building their device.

5th grade students, Emmett Ashley and Cameron Gillett, say, "The three newton laws like action reaction kinetic and potential energy and we also learned that if we all come together, we can accomplish anything."

Another piece of the puzzle in completing this process is completing a research component to the project. This year the students have to learn about braille and find a way to incorporate it into their devices. While it takes hard work to complete these projects to take part in a competition, the students are making memories while volunteers are taking part in a rewarding experience.

Davis says, "It's to see their faces light up when something works that they've been struggling with that has been tripping them up and they are able to get through it."

As this year's competition season wraps up, Mrs. Villanueva hopes that this experience has had a lasting impact on her students.

Villanueva says, "I am hoping that some of them will possibly become engineers but even if they don't, they have learned important skills like working together problem-solving trouble shooting and recognizing everyone's talents within the group."

The main goal of this event is to inspire our future engineers in a safe and nurturing classroom environment. This year to stand out from the competition the class decided to make a library of banned books as the theme for their device. This is also the first year that Villanueva has had a class head into this phase of the competition as first place winners.