NDP JUNIOR NAMED TO FIRST ROBOTICS DEAN'S LIST

April 20, 2020

Notre Dame Prep junior also tabbed to help code new website designed to coordinate PPE donations from robotics teams.

Nolan Kuza has been interested in computer science and coding since he was in the fifth grade. As a longtime member of the school's Killer Bees, he's also been providing his programming expertise for a number of years to that team. In addition, he has been applying those same skills to advance the school's CyberPatriot team. 

Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, he's been called on to help create a new website for FIRST Robotic of Michigan that launched two weeks ago to keep track of the production of personal protection equipment by robotics teams in Michigan.

"Throughout the past few weeks, I have worked on the website along with an adult mentor from another robotics team, with about a 50:50 split in workload," Kuza said. "For this project, I've been working in the backend programming languages of Python and Javascript along with front-end languages HTML and CSS." 

Kuza is one of only a few students in the state chosen to work on the website project. Now, many in the Killer Bees robotics community who have been 3D-printing face shields are logging their donated items on the website he produced.  

More than 2,000 PPE items

As of today, the NDP robotics team has donated more than 2,000 items of PPE for use by first responders and health care professionals working on the front lines of the coronavirus battle.

"In times like these, providing health-care workers and first responders with personal protective equipment is critical to ensure their safety as they work to protect us," he said. "Everyone has their own talents and abilities, and in times like these, we are called to use those talents to help supply what those brave workers desperately need."

He said that while he's been applying his computer-science abilities in developing the call-to-action website, there are countless other ways to contribute, such as 3D-printing PPE, sewing masks, donating excess equipment, or simply providing monetary donations to fight COVID-19.

Dean's list

Kuza also learned a few weeks ago that he had been named a local recipient of the FIRST Dean’s List Award, which recognizes the leadership and dedication of the most outstanding secondary school robotics students. Typically, only 10 students nationwide are honored each year with the award, which goes to those who not only contribute to their own robotics team, but also work on and lead projects that benefit the whole community, such as the FIRST in Michigan PPE Challenge website.

On April 27, Kuza will find out if he made the state Dean's List, which will put him into contention for one of 10 honored nationwide for the Dean's List at the "world's" level.

"Personally, earning this award at our local event is extremely humbling and is a reminder of the impact that we can have on others by developing and sharing our passions and talents," he said.

Like every student at Notre Dame, Kuza now is back to school work after his Easter break. He says his experience with virtual learning has been a positive one.

"All of my teachers have been extremely communicative and flexible, which has helped in balancing my schoolwork, the PPE project, and just the general confusion generated by this extreme shift in everybody's lifestyle," he said. "Some schools have been having trouble with this change, but NDP’s faculty and teachers have handled it excellently so far."

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Comments or questions on this story? mkelly@ndpma.org

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three school are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.