Meet Evelyn Cruz: teacher and robotics group organizer at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Hunting Park [VIDEO]

Evelyn Cruz did not always want to be a robotics teacher or even dabble in technology. In fact, she started out as a bus attendant at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Hunting Park, making a meager salary.

Now, a technology teacher leader and robotics instructor at her old middle school alma mater, as Technically Philly first reported on in February, Cruz’s passion for teaching and giving back to her own community shows her dedication and promise to the neighborhood she grew up in.

“I’m a product of this school. I was one of them. I am a product of this neighborhood. I’m homegrown.” Cruz said.

Cruz acknowledges the problems with advanced education in her community, noting that some kids do not have the resources or even knowledge to excel in an advanced field, such as engineering. Some of her students may not have basic tools at home, such as books or internet to even understand there are greater opportunities. Having grown up in a similar situation to many of her students, Cruz has a unique perspective.

“Some of my students tell me ‘Ms. Cruz, you don’t understand’. And I tell them, ‘I don’t understand? I don’t understand what it’s like to come home to no working heat or no food on the table?” Cruz said.

She considers herself a successful product of her neighborhood, attending Potter Thomas Elementary School, Roberto Clemente Middle School and Olney High School in North Philadelphia. Cruz obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Temple University in 1984.

Now, Cruz is a Technology Teacher Leader at Roberto Clemente, coaching other teachers in technology such as SMART boards and computer science. Her robotics classes range from 5th to 8th graders, where she teaches technology as a significant art. Cruz’s after-school robotics club also demonstrates her dedication to teaching, where she coaches students on how to build working robotics and to work in teams.

Her robotics team has participated in various competitions over the years, including the Boosting Engineering Science and Technology competition, First Lego League, and the Marine Advance Technology Education. Roberto Clemente has won awards in all three of these competitions.

“One of the main reason why I enjoy doing these competitions,” Cruz said, “is because it brings up real world situations where kids come in with some level of background knowledge, they apply it, then they use it.”

Watch a video report on the program.

[vimeo 37319414 w=420 h=236]

The report was done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods program, the capstone class for the Temple’s Department of Journalism.