"STEM is for everyone," is not just a tagline for Seth Ogoe Ayim, robotics coach from Accra, Ghana. Ayim's youth robotics team won various competitions and overcame various challenges to represent their country at the 2024 VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas, Texas, last spring.
In the video above, Ayim and members of his team share how robotics involves problem-solving, perseverance, teamwork and fun. Teams are made up of builders, designers, programmers and a scribe, who keeps track of the engineering notebook.
Whether they end up going to college or into industry, "The kids are learning real-life experiences and learning to work together," Ayim said.
"Even though this is a competition, we didn't come here to be hostile, we came here to be friends, to make new friends from all around the world," said Shadrack Dakurah, a 7th grader on the team.
In the second video below, Ayim shares some cultural and political history of his home country of Ghana. He also discusses his plans to bring about needed changes in STEM policy there.
Bountiful Technologies, the nonprofit organization Ayim co-founded with Selina Appiah, aims to bring robotics to rural communities in Ghana.
"We never gave up," said coach Selina Appiah, adding that the highlight for her was getting to meet people from all over the world.
The organization also helps to take some of the burden off of families who sacrifice a lot so their children can compete, Ayim said.
Additional resources
- Watch Student Voice: How this robotics team uses an inventor's mindset to learn more about what it's like to be part of a robotics team.
- Sign up here for PBS News Hour Classroom's Invention Educator Network where teachers from various subjects and grade levels come together to discuss all things invention & innovation. Check out our Invention Education collection, including lessons on robotics.
- Want to learn more about teaching robotics? Watch this Educator Voice video with Jason McKenna, long-time former teacher and robotics extraordinaire.
- Complete this fun Daily News Lesson with your students: Building a robot: The dedication and drive of one world championship robotics team.
Produced by News Hour's Victoria Pasquantonio with video editing by Raegan Lusk, intern and senior at Univ. of Southern California, and Gianfranco Beran, freelance production assistant, with PBS News Hour Classroom.
Fill out this form to share your thoughts on Classroom’s resources.
