There is now a link to the Pierce Transit Web site on the home page of each school in the Tacoma district, thanks to a project done by Engineering Ink, a FIRST LEGO League team from Mason Middle School. This new link, which went live on Friday, Dec. 4, will make it easier for Tacoma Public Schools (TPS) students to find a bus route to their destination and give them additional transportation options. The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Lego League qualifying competition will be held on Dec. 5 at Lincoln High School starting at 9 a.m.
Engineering Ink is competing in this year’s global FIRST LEGO League competition, Smart Move. For the project part of the competition, the team of five girls had to study how things move in their community, identify a problem and find a solution. The team also has to build and program a small robot to accomplish challenges, according to the FIRST LEGO Web site.
Engineering Ink members are Maggie Rosner, sixth grade; Lillie Williams, sixth grade; Ellie Krabill, seventh grade; Elena Meyerson, sixth grade; and Yina Finch, seventh grade. The team was formed from the Washington Bricks at Washington-Hoyt Elementary School when the girls moved to middle school. Dan Rosner is the team coach.
The Engineering Ink team came up with the idea to link Pierce Transit with the school district Web site after researching a transportation problem and collaborating with both Pierce Transit and the Tacoma Public Schools. This year, some TPS bus routes and some activity bus routes were discontinued. In addition, Engineering Ink found that many students need additional transportation options to get where they need to go. Because of Engineering Ink's suggestions and efforts, there is now a link to Pierce Transit bus information on each of the 57 TPS school home pages on the district Web site.
While researching their FIRST LEGO project, the girls discovered that there was no information about public transportation on the TPS Web site. They felt that Tacoma Public Schools should provide information on how to get to all their schools by public transportation. They enlisted the help of Kevin Humphrey, TPS webmaster, and Chuck Mathias, Pierce Transit webmaster. Engineering Ink would like to thank Mathias and Humphrey for working with them to help implement their ideas and make them real.
When asked why Pierce Transit worked on this project, Mathias said “The team members proposed, in a very articulate and persuasive fashion, to incorporate public transportation information on the Tacoma Public Schools' Web site—an idea that strikes me as one that would benefit both the school system and Pierce Transit.” For more information about Pierce Transit's bus service to the Tacoma Public Schools, visit the Web sitte at www.piercetransit.org or check a school's Web site at www.tacomaschools.org.
