On Wednesday September 17, 2025 students from Leslie Nelson’s fourth grade class at Westmoreland Elementary came to the high school to visit Robert Thomas, the woodshop teacher and robotics sponsor. Fourth graders had an opportunity to learn more about how anatomy experiments work. While at the high school students got to learn more about how robotics works and then put what they learned into action.
Leslie Nelson had hopes that by visiting robotics now it may inspire kids in the future to join robotics when attending high school.
“We were studying the Human Body in Science. One of our lessons had us make a robotic finger and hand, so we thought we would go visit the Robotics class at RC…” Nelson said.
While in high school Thomas had a Science teacher who was born without his lower right arm. At that time there were not any options besides the hook arm. Little did Thomas know then that later in life a family member would be needing a prosthetic arm.
“…it became personal about a year and half ago when my nephew, Connor, who lives in the Norton area lost his hand in a farming accident,” Thomas said.
Now, there are many technology inventions that have improved the lives of many who have lost their arms or were born without one. Connor was fortunate to receive a robotic hand, the cost was about 20,000 dollars when it used to be well over 100,000. Connor was able to return to farming.
This field trip demonstrates that fourth graders, high school students, and even adults can use unfortunate situations as a teachable moment to understand and learn more about technology and
