Lego contests put minority students on a mission - The Washington Post

Lego contests put minority students on a mission - The Washington Post: ... At Washington area Lego robotics competitions, Brittany’s team is one of a small but growing number of predominantly African American groups. Although most of the Virginia/DC First Lego League’s 3,500 entrants and 437 teams are from the suburbs, the Symbiotic Titans are one of a few teams from east of the Anacostia River. Maryland also has a First Lego League.

For many on the D.C. team, robotics has been a revelation.

“I knew the basics of what engineers do, but I didn’t know all the things that go with robotics,” Brittany said. “I didn’t know what it takes to complete a mission.”

Those missions blend the academic and the intuitive, impressing upon students that what they learn in math and science classes might lead one day to an engineering career.

“They’re using and applying mathematical concepts that they learn every day,” said Myron Long, a KIPP teacher.
President Obama has made Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiatives a priority, but such programs, particularly those that take place after school, often lack underrepresented minorities, a fact that experts say is apparent in U.S. labor statistics.

In 2006, underrepresented minorities, including African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, constituted only 9 percent of the nation’s science and engineering labor force, while accounting for nearly 30 percent of the population.