Community Champion: Kabao McCarver
JACKSON, Tenn. — It’s time to recognize a Community Champion, an honor given to people making a positive impact in the community in partnership with Leaders Credit Union.
We introduce you to a parent who is pouring in to students, helping them hone their skills and reach their full potential.
Kabao McCarver is a parent volunteer with Jackson Area Robotics. She says when her son was younger she noticed he was very clumsy and breaking a lot of things around the house, but she also noticed he was putting them back together.
“We realized that he had some talent in the STEM field — in designing and engineering, and building. So, we started looking for opportunities for him locally and there just didn’t seem to be very many opportunities,” said McCarver.
That’s when she found Jackson Area Robotics, a group of students who met to build robots. The group has been around for about 13 years, and McCarver has been involved for 9 of those.
“It’s important for students to have the opportunity to pursue STEM in our area because I think, as a community, we’ve done a really good job making sure that our athletes have plenty of opportunities and that our theater and music kids have plenty of opportunities. But for students who are STEM-minded, there just hasn’t been as many opportunities as they deserve,” said McCarver.
Jackson Area Robotics welcomes students who are homeschooled, public schooled, and private schooled. And there’s a good sense of community.
“Our students are frequently going to the schools around here, helping younger teams, helping them to develop their strategies and helping them build their robots and helping them, come up with designs and creative solutions for their own teams,” said McCarver.
McCarver is also a referee at the tournaments and says she loves to watch the teams evolve.
“For me, as a referee, I love being in that moment with them. Being able to share their visions come to life on the field. And then I’m proud to be able to be there for them in those moments when nothing works right. And I want to be that person that says, ‘Hey, that was one match. You’ve got another one in 10 minutes. Go fix this. Come back stronger’,” said McCarver.
She says the impact on the students who have been through the Jackson Area Robotics club has been tremendous.
“They learn how to problem solve, and they learn how to accept, crushing failures, and then also, like, learn humility when they succeed wildly,” said McCarver.
Two seasons ago, there were only three Jackson robotics teams in high schools, and this year there are close to 20.
If you know someone doing good in their community, you can nominate them for the Community Champion award by clicking here.
For more Madison County news, click here.
