{"id":3502,"date":"2017-05-25T11:41:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-25T15:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/education-information\/?p=3502"},"modified":"2024-02-12T08:32:57","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T13:32:57","slug":"lasting-positive-change-daniels-contribution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.spcollege.edu\/education-information\/lasting-positive-change-daniels-contribution\/","title":{"rendered":"Lasting positive change \u2013 Daniel’s contribution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Daniel Conrad hopes he brought lasting positive change to a tiny Navajo Mountain High School<\/a>.\u00a0 This is Part 2 of the story.<\/p>\n

Daniel, an SPC \u00a0graduate, says the most enjoyable part of his job is working with students that have been told they can\u2019t do something.\u00a0 He works hard to show them there is a path to prove they can succeed.\u00a0 All children have potential and all should have the chance to reach their maximum potential.<\/p>\n

Some of the students on the robotics team have criminal records; some were documented bullies and some students with learning disabilities.\u00a0 None of the students, nor Daniel, knew anything about robotics. The Navajo community is a closed community. They are hesitant to speak with people outside their own. Their tiny rural school has not received any positive accolades in more than a decade, much less a college graduate.<\/p>\n

Some challenges and the highlights<\/h5>\n
\"\"
The team overcomes challenges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The robot was not programmed and we had to compete the next day \u2013 one student stepped up to the challenge and learned to program Java in a day.<\/p>\n

The students never stopped improving. Their first scoring gear did not work in the Utah competition, so they had a defense-based robot.\u00a0 For the Idaho competition, they redesigned and became one of the best scoring robots on the field.\u00a0 At the Texas championship, their\u00a0climbing robot was redesigned to be lighter, faster and larger.\u00a0 Drive train failure at the Houston Championships \u2013 what used to take a week to rebuild in the beginning, was done in an hour.<\/p>\n

The team went from a \u201cclosed\u201d community to one of the most popular teams.\u00a0 In Idaho and Championships they enjoyed dinner every night with a different team and made friends that continue still.\u00a0 This summer a team from Salt Lake City will travel and camp with the\u00a0Naatsis\u2019\u00e1\u00e1n Robotics Team and build robots together.<\/p>\n

Lasting positive change<\/h5>\n

More than half the students want to attend college now.\u00a0 Two seniors earned a full ride to Utah State University through the team.<\/em><\/p>\n

The robotics team brought pride back to their school.\u00a0 Students have been invited to do a workshop at the URSA (Utah Rural Schools Association) annual conference this summer. Two students will be required to present their accomplishments to teachers and administrators from throughout Utah.<\/p>\n

Teamwork is the key to their lasting positive change. Their team operates under a simple concept, no one person can do everything and everybody is important. \u201cEvery kid believes that if we lost a single member, then we would not have been a success,” said Daniel. “Watching these students grow and develop as individuals has been inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n

People kept telling Daniel it was a miracle.\u00a0 He knew better.\u00a0 The students did their best. \u00a0They won every award the team Team 6546 was eligible for.<\/p>\n