By Ryan Chalk/ RChalk@TheReporter.com
Posted: 03/10/2009
Members of the Will C. Wood High School robotics team watch their robot pick up foam blocks. (Ryan Chalk / The Reporter)
A program that has sprung up at area high schools is giving students a reason to pay closer attention in science and math classes.
Vacaville, Will C. Wood and Vanden high schools each offer a robotics or engineering course that allows students to compete against other schools in designing robots. Teachers laud the programs, which are well into the competitive season, saying they increase interest in math and science because they allow students take what they learn in the classroom and put it to use in fun and challenging ways.
In its ninth year, Vanden's robotics team just returned from Boston, Mass., where it competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Boston Regional. The only team representing California, Vanden made it to the quarterfinals and was ranked 10th out of 53 teams from the United States and Canada. The team also snagged the top award for Web site design and an entrepreneurship award.
Doug Green, a physics teacher at Vanden and the engineering/robotics coach, said that a prime reason for the robotics competition is to recognize achievements in math, science and engineering.
"You're seeing it pop up in a lot of schools now," said Green. "It's meaningful to a lot of people, and outside of the traditional extracurricular activities, like sports and band, it's a great way to round out a school."
Vacaville High School also has offered a robotics program for the past several years and will meet Vanden and other teams from across the country at the FRC Sacramento-Davis Regional tournament at the University of California, Davis, on March 27-28.
As fun as building robots sounds, students attest that hours of hard work and planning go into the process before they pick up a tool. Just ask coaches and students at Will C. Wood High School, who are participating in a robotics program for the first time.
Fledgling engineers, the Wood team has already won a tournament in the Vex Robotics Competition league and will be heading to Dallas, Texas, for a world championship tournament in April. Wood will be one of more than 200 international teams competing for the title.
Guy Gray, a Wood math teacher and one of the coaches, said the students use myriad skills, including math, physics and engineering, to take the robot from the design to competition-ready stages. Time management and fundraising also go into being successful, added Gray.
"I teach algebra and when kids ask me, 'Well, what am I going to do with this stuff?' I send them over here and their eyes get huge," said Gray.
Andrew Carlquist, a junior at Wood who has the task of piloting the robot, said that being part of the robotics team has given him extra incentive do well in school.
"Before, you just did it (math and science) because if you didn't get a good grade, your parents would yell at you," said Carlquist. "But now, if I don't know this stuff and somebody else does, they're going to have the upper hand on me."
