{"609855":{"#nid":"609855","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Public Policy, Robotics and Solving the STEM Teacher Challenge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBy Michael Pearson\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIf given just one word to describe the robotics team mentored by \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/spp.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Public Policy\u003C\/a\u003E graduate student Ed Barker, you wouldn\u0026rsquo;t go wrong choosing \u0026ldquo;winner.\u0026rdquo; After all, Barker\u0026rsquo;s Kell Robotics team is just one of 29 teams inducted into the FIRST Robotics Competition Hall of Fame, and serves as a role model to the 61,000 teams worldwide.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut for all the circuits and pneumatics and flashing lights, Kell Robotics is more than just a robot factory. Under the tutelage of Barker \u0026mdash; a self-professed student of \u0026ldquo;challenging, seemingly impossible problems\u0026rdquo; \u0026mdash; it\u0026rsquo;s become something of a public policy powerhouse, too. This team grounded in science has made an art of pressing Georgia leaders to adopt solutions to a desperate shortage of secondary-level teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe students involved in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.kellrobotics.org\/\u0022\u003EKell Robotics\u003C\/a\u003E \u0026mdash; including two incoming Georgia Tech engineering students \u0026mdash; have logged hundreds of interactions with state lawmakers, policymakers, corporate leaders, educational groups, and others over the last 15 years. In all, that\u0026rsquo;s hundreds of hours advocating for programs to help turn out thousands of desperately needed STEM teachers for Georgia middle and high schools.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Public policy doesn\u0026rsquo;t change overnight,\u0026rdquo; said Danielle Newman, who is now a first-year mechanical engineering student. \u0026ldquo;Through FIRST, we try to speed up the process by letting students tell their stories.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERead the full story at \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/features\/ed-barker-kell-robotics\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/features\/ed-barker-kell-robotics\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0026#39;s School of Public Policy is an ideal place to study tough problems, says graduate student Ed Barker. That includes the shortage of STEM teachers, which he\u0026#39;s taking on in his studies, and with the championship robotics team he mentors.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"School of Public Policy graduate student wants to help solve the STEM teacher shortage."}],"uid":"32534","created_gmt":"2018-08-16 17:27:54","changed_gmt":"2018-08-16 19:39:20","author":"Elizabeth Hyman","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"609843":{"id":"609843","type":"image","title":"School of Public Policy Graduate Student Ed Barker","body":null,"created":"1534432658","gmt_created":"2018-08-16 15:17:38","changed":"1538406685","gmt_changed":"2018-10-01 15:11:25","alt":"School of Public Policy graduate student Ed Barker","file":{"fid":"232251","name":"ed barker 169.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ed%20barker%20169.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ed%20barker%20169.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":283254,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ed%20barker%20169.jpg?itok=K0Ulw2wi"}}},"media_ids":["609843"],"groups":[{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[{"id":"151","name":"Policy, Social Sciences, and Liberal Arts"}],"keywords":[{"id":"667","name":"robotics"},{"id":"626","name":"public policy"},{"id":"167258","name":"STEM"},{"id":"1432","name":"education"},{"id":"178760","name":"Ed Barker"},{"id":"167078","name":"School of Public Policy"},{"id":"1616","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nrebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404.894.1720\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}