JACKSON — With the energy and drive of former Jackson Hole High School engineering teacher Gary Duquette coupled with the Wonder Institute’s support and collaboration, amazing things are happening in the world of robotics in Jackson Hole.
“It’s a comprehensive program,” said Duquette, who helped found the Jackson Hole High School robotics program in 2010.
Duquette now works both for the Wonder Institute — a nonprofit focused on Teton County youth — and as the school district’s robotics coach. In his coaching role, he works with students across grade levels and schools.
Those students are amped on engineering. Embracing peg boards and circuits, they’re wired with the prospect of using science and math to make imagination come to life.
“Robotics is different from anything else you can do,” Duquette said. “But above all, it’s about teamwork and working with a team through the exploration process.”
Duquette said a foundational component to the program’s success has been harnessing the passion of parents and volunteers to step in to provide more energy to drive all the possibilities that the program holds.
The district provides formal instruction in some of its classes, and Kelly and Moran Elementary Schools have worked the robotics program into their classrooms because of the distance they would need to travel for an after school program.
But Duquette is there for all of it — and he’s opening up the programming to local private schools and to schools that are connected to Teton County, Wyoming, but are separated by Teton Pass, such as Alta Elementary School and Mountain Academy in Victor.
Family and friends gather Thursday in the Jackson Hole High School routunda to watch the First Lego League competition. Several robotics teams from elementary schools around the valley participated in the competition, which challenges students apply STEM skills to guide Lego robots in completing a series of tasks in a specific time frame.
Photo by Bradly J. Boner, Jackson Hole News&Guide
Last Thursday, 21 teams or 125 students and 20 volunteer coaches, parents and mentors competed and cheered for one another as fourth and fifth grade teams gathered in the high school cafeteria for a First Lego League competition.
“This is great to see this kind of excitement, especially in this town where the focus is usually about sports,” Duquette said. “There are a lot of opportunities for kids to explore STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] and at this age they still love to play. As they get older, they get an opportunity to do more and more. So this is a program that starts with Legos and ends with $10,000 robotics in high school.”