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Using Legos and small motors, a new program in Franklin is teaching third- and fourth-graders about science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with the hope of boosting their interest in those areas.

The STEM program at the Boys and Girls Club started this summer and is continuing into the fall. Children in the program use Legos to build a robot or a creature, such as an alligator. Then, they attach a motor to make it move, giving them a lesson in robotics.

The program was tested during the summer, and one student was able to make an alligator that chomped down on his hand when he stuck it in the alligator’s mouth, assistant club director Keith Stafford said.

Now, with a $10,000 Johnson County Community Foundation grant, the Boys and Girls Club is expanding the program, including buying a computer to run the robotics program, Lego robotics kits and staff training so the Boys and Girls Club can run the program on its own, Stafford said. They plan to offer three more sessions of the course this fall and winter.

“STEM education is fast-growing and something that’s very valuable for these kids,” Stafford said. “I didn’t grow up with Legos, but some of the kids use their imagination, and being able to use a program to make them do movement is so great.”

Across the county, schools have been pushing to grow their own STEM programs.

Earlier this month, Greenwood-based Endress+Hauser, a device manufacturer, invited more than 400 students, their parents and teachers to a community forum on what careers are possible with a focus in science, technology engineering and math.

Center Grove, Greenwood and Indian Creek all have robotics teams where students build robots to move materials, scoop buckets and go through obstacle courses. This summer, Greenwood and Center Grove co-

organized a robotics camp for Greenwood elementary students so they can get students interested in STEM at a young age.

And Center Grove is in the process of building a STEM lab in a former maintenance building, which will offer a robotics lab and collaborative learning space. School officials also are working to acquire STEM lab kits and build a curriculum for multiple grade levels to use the lab.

Between 15 and 20 third- and fourth-graders went through this summer’s Lego robotics program at the Boys and Girls Club, Stafford said. Staff members brought in teachers from Franklin’s Sylvan Learning Center, which teaches the program for other school districts and organizations, because they thought it would be a good fit for the club, he said.

Eventually, Stafford said, he wants all of the 200 students who regularly attend the Boys and Girls Club to experience the Lego program. So far, only about 15 students can participate in each six-week session.

“Once we buy the equipment, we can continue running the program throughout the club,” Stafford said.

While the Boys and Girls Club is gathering the pieces needed to run its own program, it is offering three Lego sessions during the next six months for third through sixth grades.

The first six-week session started this week for 14 third- and fourth-graders, Stafford said. Staff members from Sylvan Learning Center will run the program this fall, he said, and the Boys and Girls Club administrators will shadow them to learn how to run the program.

A longer, more in-depth Lego program for fifth- and sixth-grade students will begin in January or February, Stafford said.

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