he Carbon County SHINE Career Academy's most recent project started out as a box filled with parts, nuts and bolts and a binder full of detailed assembly instructions.

For months, nearly 30 middle-school aged students worked four days a week to create a masterpiece from the pieces.Through the process, they learned about science, engineering, physics, anatomy and robotics, and today they are proud of what they have accomplished.The finished product is Marvin, a 4-foot-9-inch robot, that the program obtained from NASA's STEM projects through funding secured through state and federal sources."We've been working on it since last year," said Rayann Wilder, a seventh-grader at Panther Valley.Rachel Strucko, director of the Carbon and Schuylkill SHINE Afterschool program, said that the project came about after two teachers saw the robot and asked about purchasing it for a project.The program enlisted the help of Jason Conrad, a physics teacher at Jim Thorpe Area High School, and partnered with Carbon Career & Technical Institute to make the project a reality."This is the top of the line of all robots," Conrad said as he worked on the programming for Marvin. "It came in a box and the students assembled it. I was just here for support."'He noted that the group is now working to program Marvin to speak, move and follow simple instructions.Layla Santiago, a seventh-grader at Panther Valley, said it was interesting learning how to put the robot together, as well as wire it."I built half of his right arm, half of his left leg, four of his ribs and his neck," she said, adding that she also helped do all the wiring.Marvin is now controlled using Bluetooth, a laptop and a simple game system remote control.Conrad said that his goals for the students were to learn about following instructions, paying attention to detail, using small hand tools and wiring.Wilder said that she particularly liked working with the tools that she had never used before."It was kind of nice because you get to shift gears here," Conrad said."You get to break out tools and show students how they work. It was neat to see younger kids enjoy something that I am used to seeing only older kids enjoy."The students will continue working on the finishing touches on Marvin over the next few weeks.Strucko said that she has plans for Marvin once he is finished, but added that details have not been finalized yet.In addition to the robot project, students are also learning about healthy eating. Two times a week students work with culinary teachers on food preparations to learn about healthy meal options.The Carbon County SHINE Career Academy began in 2011 through a partnership between Lehigh Carbon Community College and CCTI, as a way to bridge the gap in the LCCC SHINE Afterschool Program model. It allows Carbon County students in grades six, seven and eight to look into jobs of the future through hands-on projects while building on their current academic skills.Over the years, students have done a number of projects including building a solar-powered shed, constructing a drivable race car, converting a diesel motor engine to run on compressed natural gas and more.Strucko said that students from Carbon, Schuylkill and Luzerne SHINE programs will meet at CCTI on May 7 to compete in a pinewood derby-style relay race. The race will begin at 10 a.m. on the hill on 13th Street in Jim Thorpe.The centers have each been working on drivable cars as projects and will now race them.Strucko said that the unique part of the project is that while each car body is the same, the restraint and braking systems were designed by each class."We're very, very excited to work with SHINE in Hazleton and showcase CCTI from a design and engineering perspective," she said. "It will also be exciting to see what the kids come up with."