Midwest Robotics Coach Roni Mull is proud of the innovation and creativity of the students, as they build robots entirely from scratch, “This program teaches students life skills. They are learning team cooperation, programming, engineering, problem-solving, and so many other critical skills.” As the teams develop their robots, they have to keep the challenge requirements in mind. Each year, the robots must complete specific tasks in competition, such as picking objects up and delivering them to specific locations on the track. In addition, students participate in small scrimmages with other school teams across the state, allowing them to fine-tune their robots for peak performance at the state competition.
Since sixth grade, Blaine, a senior at Midwest, has participated in Robotics Club, “We go through the design process talking about it with our team, which makes it so much more fun. To be able to talk with others and come up with designs and work through the process together makes you feel really included in something different from your schoolwork. You are part of a team.” Blaine initially participated in Robotics because a team needed an additional member. However, once he became involved, there was no looking back, and he is now considering Robotic Engineering as a potential career, “It is just a fun program to go through. You get to meet lots of new people, and it shows you different parts of the STEM field.”
Robotics offers students the opportunity to learn aspects of engineering, physics, mathematics, reading, writing, coding, communications, and more. James Fulkerson, a Midwest Robotics coach, has seen firsthand how the hands-on learning environment can benefit students, “Robotics changes the learning process, and students are in a hands-on learning environment that helps them excel in all aspects of education. Robotics can engage students that may not engage in the typical classroom setting. I’m proud of our Midwest robotics students. It’s been a great year.”
Donovan joined the Robotics Club this year due to a career interest in Robotics Engineering, “This is actually my passion; I love working with computers.” Robotics Club is an excellent way to expand upon students’ current interest in engineering or STEM careers after high school. However, it’s also a terrific way to simply provide students an opportunity to be involved in their school community while having fun, “I joined Robotics Club because I was looking for something to be involved in outside of athletics. I have learned so much already, and that it’s not as easy as it looks,” shared Kobe, a sixth-grade student at Midwest.
Participating in Robotics for the first time this year, Jeremy, a freshman at Midwest, joined initially to be able to lend his talents in journaling with the team, “I wasn’t really interested in robotic but then Ms. Mull said I could do the team journal, and I thought, ‘Oh hey, I’ll do that, I like that.’ Then once I got into it, I realized I really liked it. You get to work with cool people and build stuff from scratch, and you can learn a lot!” The team journal, or as it is formally called the engineering notebook, is an essential part of the competition. His interest in writing the notebook for the team has led him to learn about coding, electrical wiring, and so much more.
Midwest Schools is committed to creating opportunities for individual learning in an engaging and respectful setting. The Robotics Club is a shining example of this mission. Robotics Club provides opportunities for students to engage in fun, creative, hands-on learning exploring to further develop and discover their individual interests in STEM.