There are three laws of robotics.
Students in Wood Middle School’s Robotics I class know them all.
This is important because they also know how to build and code a robot from scratch.
“I thought it would be much more complicated,” said eighth-grader Abriana Arroyo. “But I get it. It’s pretty easy and lots of fun.”
Arroyo joined the Robotics I and loves it. She spends time running practice routes around a mini-arena in the middle of a classroom. She’s controlling a robot she and her teammates built piece by piece using code they created character by character.
The robot drives over big yellow balls, scooping them up and loading them into a catapult.
“This class gives me confidence,” said Arroyo.
On the other side of the classroom, Arroyo’s teammates build another robot. This one has something called a flywheel. It uses two small tires to launch the yellow balls into the basket.
Teammate Amiah Brantley is taking robotics because she gets high school credit for the course. It turns out she’s also having some fun along the way.
"I love this class. I love my teacher,” said Amiah. When I get older, I want to go into engineering. So, I decided to do this to get some experience with it. I didn’t think I would be doing stuff like this. I like building robots.”
Amiah also likes the fact that she and her teammates get to travel.
After coming in third at a state tournament, the Wood Robotics team got invited to the World Robotics competition earlier this month in Dallas.
Teams from Bush Middle School and North East ISD’s STEM Academy also competed.
“We did not win, but it was a great first experience,” said Robotics I teacher Heather Brown. “We had a great time; we experienced some early issues, but we worked through them, and by the end, we scored the highest rounds this year to date.”
NEISD schools work hard to provide opportunities and experiences for students to help them cultivate their passions. Ask your campus what opportunities your kids have to find a new passion.
