ORLANDO, Fla. – Students as young as 5 years old recently competed in Princeton Elementary School's inaugural robotic limbs competition.
"I'm just excited because our kids got excited about really learning about something in the world they could maybe make a difference in," said Principal Amanda Maxwell.
Maxwell said the school was recently designated an "innovation school."
"Our goal is to help our students become globally conscious citizens who recognize needs within our community or across the world and use their creativity or some STEAM concepts to think outside the box and see how they could make an impact," she said.
Students designed and built robotic arms and legs and explained their models to a panel of judges. Two of those judges were Cypress Creek High School sophomores who designed their own robotic arm.
"I'm actually pretty impressed. I didn't expect this much out of kids from elementary school," said Ibrahim Khater. "Especially the way some figured out how to get the thumb to work, because the thumb is pretty difficult."
Maxwell says the student body is divided into houses much like Harry Potter houses, and whichever group has the most points at the end of the grading period wins a pizza party. Students competed for points for their designated house.
"I'm really proud. This is our first go, so we are only going to get better, but if this is where we're starting, I'm really optimistic about the future," said Maxwell.