Students in two innovative educational programs initiated at the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) recently took top honors in regional and state competitions.
The RCLC Lego Robotics Team won first place for project presentation in the 2010 Indiana First Lego League Competition in Indianapolis Dec. 12. Members of the Robinson Shakespeare Company took five of the six top awards on Dec. 11 in the third annual Shakespeare at Notre Dame Regional Shakespeare Monologues competition.
Charell Luckey, an Adams High School junior from the Robinson Shakespeare Company, took top honors. She now advances to the English-Speaking Union of the United States’ (ESUUS) State Shakespeare Competition on Feb. 28 in Indianapolis.
Other Robinson Shakespeare Company members honored were High School Division runner up Candace Williams of Adams; Braylen Porter of LaSalle Academy, runner up in the middle school division; and Joshua Crudup, winner, and Tamera Bruce, runner up, in the elementary school division. Crudup is a Tarkington Elementary School student; Bruce attends Peace Lutheran. Leigh Van Ryn, Stanley Clark School, took top honors in the middle school division.
The Robinson Shakespeare Company, directed by Christy Burgess, also performs full-length plays and has reached more than 1,500 community audience members through their outreach activities.
The RCLC Lego Robotics team is coached by G. David Moss, assistant vice president of student affairs. Team members, ages 10 to 14 years old, include Philip Moss, Lydia Moss, Tiana Mudzimurema, Isaiah Crudup, Malik Giger, Thomas Forsythe, Cambrin Dixon and Andrew McDonald. Team members met weekly and on Saturdays to prepare for the competition.
RCLC’s Lego team and the Robinson Shakespeare Center thrive in an environment that emphasizes that exemplary achievement is possible in a collaborative environment built on the tenets of humility, faith and hope.
The RCLC is celebrating 10 years as a Northeast Neighborhood community-driven education center. Sponsored by the University of Notre Dame and community agencies, the center hosts more than 500 Northeast Neighborhood residents and Notre Dame volunteers per week in programming for all ages.