Cutchogue East fourth-grade students prepare their robots for competition. (Credit: Tara Smith)
Dozens of brightly colored robots whirred around the cafeteria floor at Cutchogue East Elementary on Wednesday as fourth grade students put their coding skills to the test.
The room was transformed into a robotics arena where students split into two teams, competing against each other to score or steal the most points.
“It’s really a cumulative celebration of all the code we’ve learned,” said STEAM coordinator Meghan Tepfenhardt, who helps lead a district-wide initiative to expand science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics activities for K-6 students.
Myah Orlowski, bottom row, second from left, addresses state and school officials for support funding mental health initiatives for North Fork students. (Source: Longwood Legislative Breakfast/Zoom)
The tragic death of 16-year-old Ryan Oliver, a sophomore at Mattituck High School, has reinforced the need for school districts to pay close attention to the mental health needs of students, particularly now with COVID-19 forcing so much change and continued hardship on families and young people.
That need was emphasized at a recent Mattituck-Cutchogue school district meeting, where administrators pleaded for state funding to be restored to the very critical North Fork Coalition for Behavioral Health, a consortium of local hospitals, elected officials and the Family Service League that worked to improve students’ access to mental health services on the East End.