Shiloh Secondary Robotics Program

October 19th, 2018

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Shiloh has a new Robotics program under the leadership of Brant and Delores Breeding.  Last spring, they held their first interest meeting. Over the summer, they met with the School of Innovation to connect with other coaches and learn about their robotics program.

The team participants, which consist of 6th – 12th grade students, meet on Mondays after school and every Saturday morning from 9:00 am – noon. They are learning the fundamentals necessary to build their first robot including JAVA programming language, CAD (Computer Aided Design), and how to design and construct a robot for their first competition in December.

The value of this program is hard to measure, but Mr. Breeding shared that students learn problem-solving skills, true engineering for the design process, computer programming, how to fail and recover, how to work as a team, how to build a business plan, marketing skills, and the value of community outreach. The students will design a robot at the beginning of the competitive season, and then have the opportunity to improve their design based on feedback from the judges for the next competition.

Kacey Haws is a sophomore who responded to the interest meeting in the spring because she has always had an interest in STEM-related programs. She attended a 3-week camp at Duke University over the summer, and while she was there she wrote two to three programs a day.  Her final project was to design a text-based video game.  She said it is great to have the exposure to more science related activities at school, including the introduction of more STEM related fields.   

Chris Bowerman is the only Senior on the team. He has been interested in STEM–related programs and computer programming.  When he heard about the club, he was interested in learning more about computer aided design.  Chris has plans to attend the U of A in the Fall, and he intended to pursue a degree in computer science.  After his summer experience with local robotics teams and Shiloh's team practices, he has decided to pursue a degree in computer engineering instead.