The second edition of the Rural Summer Robotics and Programming Camps has ended, marking another stage of the project through which the ARTESA Association brings equal opportunities to rural communities.
Since July 2024, all the children who wanted to participate, and there were more than half of those over 400 students from the villages of Vasilați, Nuci and Popești, discovered robotics and programming, either during summer camps or in workshops held during the school year.
Some of them have been participating consistently since the first workshops, growing with the program and demonstrating how much continuity matters in such an endeavor. Others come into contact with the fascinating world of robotics for the first time with each new registration session.
The results are visible: for the first time, children from Constantin Brancoveanu Vasilati Secondary School participated in national robotics competitions, such as the First Lego League and the World Robot Olympiad, and returned to the village with remarkable results, which shows that talent and ambition don't take into account where you were born.
Children from the villages of Vasilați, Nuci and Popești today have access to the first exclusive robotics lab in the area, fully equipped with robotics kits, high-performance tablets and laptops, and more recently, a donated 3D printer. It is not just a classroom, but a space where children's imaginations are transformed into tangible projects, where they learn to test, make mistakes, fix, and succeed.
But the greatest achievement of the project lies not in the robots or the prizes, but in the way the children change. Improving performance on national assessments from 2025 is also the fruit of these workshops, which develop critical thinking and discipline and bring information from various subjects in a different, more captivating way for students.
Looking ahead, things are clear: the project must continue. The teams in Vasilați are already preparing for the FIRST LEGO League competition in 2026, and the camps and workshops will accompany the children in the 2025–2026 school year.
However, it must be said openly: the future depends on the support we receive. No matter how much desire there is in the ARTESA Association, in the school and among parents, this project cannot be supported with enthusiasm alone. It needs sponsors, partners and people who believe, like us, that quality education should not be a privilege of children in cities, that together we can make a better world.
The Rural Camps and robotics workshops are not just an educational project, they are also an investment in the future, a future in which children from Vasilați, Nuci and Popești can dream and succeed just like any other child in Romania or the world.