MILWAUKEE — For a group of people used to working on some of the most complex military vehicles, it might sound surprising that they have become fascinated with the more simple LEGO. However, a new program at the Milwaukee VA is generating buzz beyond the low hum of the small LEGO motor.
“21 years I was a jet engine mechanic, a jet crew chief, and a C-130 crew chief," Howard Luxner, an Air Force veteran said.
He is part of the second cohort of veterans at the VA who are taking the new LEGO-based STEM robotics program. While, LEGO isn’t quite as complicated as a jet engine, this program at the Milwaukee VA still keeps him engaged.
“This LEGO robotics really keeps me interested in how to make things work," Luxner said.
The Milwaukee County War Memorial Center organizes the robotics program hosted at the VA. It’s a STEM education class. Veterans build a LEGO motorcycle and then have to program it so that when it moves, it can identify objects on the ground like a blue line, and stop before crossing it.
The class teaches mechanics, practice dexterity, and be social with other veterans. It also teaches them computer literacy.
“Really helps them learn computer skills. In our day and age computers are important to be able to access things like their medical records and everything," Kali Dancisak, a rehab engineer within the assistive technology department of the VA, said.
Watch to see what the class and LEGO motorcycles look like...
There's one more goal the program accomplishes. The organizers want to take this program out of the VA and into local classrooms.
“I want these veterans to get good enough to where they might be able to start going to the classrooms and offer it as an introductory class for middle schoolers," Sean Clark, the program director at the Milwaukee County War Memorial, said.
After Clark served in the Army, he became an elementary school teacher and middle school robotics team coach. He sees this program as a win-win for schools and veterans.
“It doesn’t cost anything for the veterans to, you know, come in and work with them. The only thing they have to bring in is their robotics kits," Clark said.
This program is just four months old. The VA is in the middle of its second cohort, and it will start the third class in January or February 2025.
“They just offered it. And I was curious. I thought LEGOs what are we doing here?" Bill Fenton, a Navy veteran, said.
Fenton was skeptical at first. But then he quickly got hooked like his classmate Howard Luxner.
“There’s more to this than what meets the eye," Fenton said.
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