ELLWOOD CITY — Robots took over the back room of the Ellwood City Public Library on Friday, making pizza, giving out hair cuts and even delivering packages.
But these robot professionals weren't made of metal; in fact, these bots were made entirely out of recycled materials and were created by the hands of Hartman Elementary School pupils.
Twice a year, the Arts and Bots Robotics Club works with fifth- and sixth-graders to build robots in the spring and fall. Students have four days to create a concept drawing and then build their robot. Materials like boxes, bottle caps, vacuum tubes and other recycled materials are available for students to use.
Students create their concept drawing without even knowing the specific materials the club will have available, Matt Skoczylas, elementary technology teacher and club co-director, said.
Typically, students work in pairs, but this year teachers Skoczylas and Alan Marsh, elementary art teacher and club co-director, added a new challenge to the program — no partners.
This semester's theme, called People in our Neighborhood, required students to connect with the community and create a robot of a local professional they admire and see frequently around town, like a mailman or police officer.
Many of the students chose professionals with the same career as their parent or family member.
Ava Robbins, a rising sixth-grader, created a dental hygienist robot because that's what her mom does. Tejionna Summers, a rising seventh-grader, made a tow truck robot inspired by her uncle's tow truck company. "I really look up to my uncle a lot," she said.
Travis Lytton, a rising seventh-grader, created a welder, which was inspired by his father's occupation.
"I think it's great," father Will Lytton said. "It's pretty spot on."
Rising sixth-grader Arianna Salvucci's mother is a beautician, so Salvucci created a beautician robot with a hair dryer in one hand and scissors in another. Gianna DiCerbo, a rising seventh-grader, created a mechanic robot, since her father is a mechanic.
"It's nice to see their ideas come to life," Skoczylas said after each student presented their robots.
Other students created local Ellwood City faces, like a Sweet Caroline's-inspired robot made by rising seventh-grader Christopher Quintanilla and a Pizza Joe's-inspired robot made by Tessa Folino, a rising sixth-grader. Folino created a robot with a moving mustache that looks strikingly similar to Pizza Joe's manager Dan Ritchie.
"I thought it would be cool to make a mustache (mechanically) turn," Folino said.
Matthew Fulmer, a rising sixth-grader, created a police officer robot, because he said, "I've always wanted to be a police officer."
Antonio Chambers, a rising sixth-grader, loves receiving packages from Amazon.com, he said, so he created a mailman robot.
Students used a hummingbird kit in their robot, Skoczylas said. The kit is a sort of circuit board that tells the robot what to do, he said, "it's like the brains of a computer."
Each robot moves and has some sort of sound effect. Quintanilla's Sweet Caroline's-inspired robot played the song, "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond as it scooped pretend ice cream.
The club typically has about 50 applicants each year, Marsh said, though Marsh and Skoczylas choose around 10 students for the program.
Skoczylas said to apply, students are asked two questions: "Why do they want to be a part of the program, and, if accepted, what would they bring to the table?"
The application process "teaches students a life skill," Marsh said, noting that learning how to fill out applications and answer questions at a young age will help these students prepare for life after graduation.