Article content
Grade 7 and 8 pupils at Wyoming’s Holy Rosary Catholic school will showcase how the rural community is embracing digital technology at the community’s fairgrounds in April.
Article content
Alongside local tech and career exhibitors, the Wyoming Sky-Tech Invitational will see area elementary school teams square off in drone coding and precision challenges.
Article content
The free, public event run Friday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 11, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Holy Rosary pupils “wanted to do something for their community,” said Robert Walicki, a St. Clair Catholic District school board curriculum consultant.
“They are a tiny school, but they wanted to show they have big dreams, big ideas,” he said. “They are small but mighty.”
The event came out of a drone-based technology workshop program at board elementary schools, in which sevent- and eighth-graders learn about coding and other drone-related skills linked to potential future careers in industry, wildlife management, emergency services and other fields.
Article content
“It’s such a pervasive technology now,” Walicki said.
The Wyoming pupils saw an opportunity to share what they were learning with the community and wanted to do something beyond a school event, he said.
“They pitched their idea to the Plympton-Wyoming Agricultural Society,” which donated use of the fairgrounds for the event, Walicki said.
“Drones are just one aspect of it,” he said. “They also wanted to show that in Lambton County, the world of agriculture is changing, the world of technology is changing.”
They invited local organizations and businesses using technology to take part and be event exhibitors, Walicki said.
Plans are for a “history in flight” exhibit in partnership with local veterans and a virtual reality career simulation hosted by the Workplace Group, he said. Wyoming firefighters, Delta Farm Equipment, the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority and other organizations are expected to be involved.
There will also be real estate, agriculture and other businesses that use drone technologies, and “we have a coding company coming and are going to provide workshops for kids and families,” Walicki said.
Share this article in your social network
