KUNA, Idaho — Lego League clubs are now a staple at all Kuna elementary schools. The program aims to help students learn coding and how to work in a team — all through the lens of building Lego sets.
The idea started at Hubbard Elementary under the direction of two teachers, Lisa Gamboa and Nicole Crow, but was improved and expanded to all schools thanks to a grant from Meta. Now schools are packed with kids after school — learning with Legos.
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“So we just made this submarine and then we were talking about what it could do or what it would find if it were in the ocean," says 4th grader Tucker Leybas. He is one of more than 60 kids participating in the program at Reed Elementary. “It’s fun because we get to code and build Legos," says Leybas.
Students work in teams to build and program their creations to do specific things.
“My experience has been working with other people," says 5th grader Ruby Ayala. She is a junior coach for the Lego League and helps other kids stay on track with building and coding their projects — something she says is a useful skill. “It can help me in whatever I choose to do, a job, like if I want to do computer science— that would help me a lot," says Ayala.
“The goal of this program is just to make sure kids are having fun, learning new skills that they could possibly use in the future. Coding is huge in the world, everything is technology, so we want kids to be able to grow up and understand how to do that and help us make the world better," says Chris Dixon, a 2nd grade teacher who helps lead the Lego League club at Reed Elementary.
Dixon says though the kids do get to play with Legos, they're also learning valuable skills.
“Yes, we’re gonna have fun. Yes, we’re gonna play with Legos, but the main thing is teaching them that awesome coding skill that we’re hoping the kids take into the future as part of their career," says Dixon.
