MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD) — A group of Muskegon Heights students had the opportunity to spend part of the day at Lakeshore Fab Lab Thursday afternoon as part of the Pathfinders program.
About a dozen students took part in the week-long STEM class led by Rod Corey, a former robotics engineer and US military veteran who works to teach young students about the brain.
“Every human heart wants to know more about how to get better, and I think that’s one of the things we’re showing today,” Corey said.
Through neuroeducation, Corey hopes students realize they can shape whatever future they want.
Muskegon Heights students participate in the Pathfinders program. (July 25, 2024) Muskegon Heights students participate in the Pathfinders program. (July 25, 2024) Retired robotics engineer Rod Corey mentors Muskegon Heights students in the Pathfinders program. (July 25, 2024)
“We’re talking about a community that doesn’t have a lot, but has brains and creativity, and we want to build on that. And as we build on that, good things will happen. That’s our belief,” Cawley said.
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The retired robotics engineer sees a lot of himself in young people from marginalized communities, so he’s passionate about giving back to them.
“I’m trying to educate these young kids, and again, you don’t have to climb the steep side of a mountain,” he explained, “so I’m instilling in them the lessons I’ve learned from how I got through and what society has shown me and taught me, because they are me and I am them and we are one.”
For students like Justin Robinson, it’s a chance to see just how many career possibilities there are.
“This has been a really helpful experience in figuring out what kind of work I want to do in the future,” Robinson said. “I’m really interested in the wiring in the room we just came from, and in the wiring of houses and things like that.”
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Corley said many African-Americans have been conditioned to believe there are certain things they will never be able to do, and he wants to change that perspective.
“[This is]an opportunity to do more than just see what’s outside our window. There’s a world out there for us,” Corey said. “We say, ‘You need to change the way you think,’ but no one’s taught us how to interrupt old neural pathways and create new ones.”
Corey plans to start a STEMbotics program at Muskegon Heights High School in the fall.
