JACKSON TWP — Rowan Elementary School is set to begin two new Lego robotics courses this month.

Lego WeDo and EV3 courses were presented to the Seneca Valley School Board on Monday night. Fourth grade students Tyler Broecker and Lucas Boyle showed the board how two different robots are programmed and how they work.

Rowan is partnering with Green E Academy to offer the courses.

Superintendent Tracy Vitale said the funding for the program comes from money set aside for creative STEM (science technology, engineering and mathematics) programming. Rowan had to apply to the district for the money like it would for a grant.

Sean McCarty, assistant superintendent for K-6 instruction, said the courses will start the week of Oct. 20 and go until May 31. There will be two 12-week sessions.

Assistant Principal Cassandra Pencek said the WeDO Lego course is available to all of the second and third graders. The EV3 Robotics Course is available to fourth graders.

Both courses will be offered during the students’ care period, which is a period already in the schedule and developed for enrichment.

“It is a perfect opportunity that is already built into our schedule to allow our students to participate,” she said.

Pencek said, “We are excited about this opportunity because we have also been really thinking about the sustainability piece, how we can sustain this in the future,” she said.

Green E Academy is doing the training, but it will come throughout the year to provide coaching and co-teaching opportunities for the teachers.

Marcel Bergerman, one of the founders of Green E Academy, said the goal is to make STEM fun.

Bergerman said, “You start by having fun and playing with it, and once you have fun and engage, the learning begins,” he said.

Bergerman said there is a shortage of STEM professionals in the United States.

“It is your responsibility, yours and mine, to create those professionals to educate them and bring them to our industries, to our companies,” he said.

Programming is like a language and if a child can learn a new language from a young age, then they can learn programming, Bergerman said.

Nannette Farmar, Rowan principal, said these two classes offer unique and exciting learning opportunities.

“Over the last few years, we have had a lot of thought and discussions regarding how are we going to prepare our students for their lives in the future,” Farmar said.

She said the goal is to give students exposure at an early age.

“We want all kids to be exposed to this learning. We don’t just want students who have the ability and the access to summer programs,” Farmar said.