Dooly County: Angie Brannen has a heart for teaching and is "ALL IN" with her FLL Robotics team.

by: Debra Cox, 21st Century Partnership- March 15, 2024

Having been a teacher in public schools for 32 years, Angie Brannen has in some capacity taught all grade levels from Pre-K to grade 12 and currently serves as the Gifted Coordinator for the Dooly County School System. She works with gifted and high achieving students across the district as well as assisting teachers with best practices for meeting the unique needs of those students.

The Middle Georgia STEM alliance had the opportunity to work with Angie Brannen and her Rookie First Lego League Robotics Team (FLL) this past season. What an amazing group of young individuals they are. To watch this team, you would think that they had been programming and building robots together for years, but that is simply not the case.

How it all started: Dooly County received a grant to purchase LEGO Spike kits, and Angie spent the next two years writing more grants and absorbed all she could from various avenues of training.

Last summer, Angie attended the Middle Georgia Robotics Institute at the Museum of Aviation, sponsored by the Middle Georgia STEM Alliance and Georgia Power. She was then asked by those two organizations to attend another meeting where she was connected with STARBASE Robins.

And thus, Dooly County Middle School Cats (FLL) robotics team was formed.
Angie is truly amazed by the team. “The robotics team amazes me with their resiliency, determination, critical thinking, and creativity. These students accept instruction well in that they truly listen to their coaches and figure out ways to improve what they have created. I am extremely proud of the maturity with which my students carry themselves and their attitude toward learning.”
"Throughout this first season of robotics, I have seen firsthand this team grow closer together, through collaboration and with respect. I have watched my students become better critical thinkers and they have been better able to drill down to the root of a problem in order to fix it or to improve a process or code.”

After the SuperRegional competition held at the Museum of Aviation in January, sadly, their robotics year ended. However, three of her team members convinced their teachers to allow them to continue to come early to Angie’s room to create, compete and brainstorm. “Their determination and drive to continue working, to persevere, and to learn additional skills simply blesses my teacher-heart. These three young men are gaining valuable leadership skills while doing work they enjoy.”, Angie said of her students.

Angie deeply appreciates the partnerships formed with the 21ST Century Partnership, Middle Georgia STEM Alliance, STARBASE Robins, and Georgia Power. “These entities are working together to increase STEM in middle Georgia. With the collaboration of these partners, students in rural, Dooly County, Georgia - a vast land mass county with little industry beyond agriculture - are able to experience STEM and especially robotics in an exciting and even life-altering manner. Students who did not know what direction they wanted to take in life are now discussing universities where they can become engineers and have summer experiences to further their robotics knowledge. Changing lives and inspiring people is what teaching is all about! “

To other teachers who want to get involved in robotics, Angie says, "Just do it!" “Jump in with both feet. Learn alongside your students. It has been one of the most teacher-heart rewarding experiences of my career. Not only do you get to witness students at their best, but you also get to know your students so much more by working alongside them and coaching them with critical thinking questions and scenarios. Your students will do the work. You just give them the space and the freedom to carry it out.”

At the 21st Century Partnership, Middle Georgia STEM Alliance, it is our hope that through collaboration with community partners, that we can build a robotics pipeline from K-12 providing the future workforce for middle Georgia and beyond.