May 2, 2018
Huron-Kinloss, Ont.
Kindergarten students at Ripley-Huron Community School show NWMO President and CEO Laurie Swami how to program Bee-Bots. The robots were funded through the NWMO’s Early Investments in Education and Skills program.
Laurie Swami, President and CEO of the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO), recently made a stop at Ripley-Huron Community School to join in on a Bee-Bot demonstration with the kindergarten class.
The Bee-Bots teach children the first stages of early computing and programming. Kindergarten teacher Vanessa Andrew has incorporated these robots into her curriculum through storytelling. The children program the Bee-Bot to tell a story on a grid map that has different pictures.
The Bee-Bots were funded through the Early Investments in Education and Skills (EIES) program established between the NWMO and Township of Huron-Kinloss Nuclear Waste Community Advisory Committee to encourage learning among youth.
Principal Tanya Leppington was grateful for the support. “The funding has allowed us to give children the opportunity to learn and promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as early as kindergarten,” Ms. Leppington said.
”This support helps to empower children to grow and learn in the STEM fields.”
For more information on the EIES program, please contact Elyse at the Township of Huron-Kinloss office at 519.395.3735.
About the NWMO
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is a not-for-profit organization tasked with the safe, long-term management of Canada’s used nuclear fuel inside a deep geological repository, in a manner that protects people and the environment for generations to come.
Founded in 2002, the NWMO has been guided for more than 20 years by a dedicated team of world-class scientists, engineers and Indigenous Knowledge Holders that are developing innovative and collaborative solutions for nuclear waste management. Canada’s plan will only proceed in an area with informed and willing hosts, where the municipality, First Nation and Métis communities, and others in the area are working together to implement it. The NWMO plans to select a site in 2024, and two areas remain in our site selection process: the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation-Ignace area in northwestern Ontario and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation-South Bruce area in southern Ontario.
