YWLA’s RoboSquad Highlighted in District Robotics Feature
The following article was originally published on San Antonio ISD’s website: https://www.saisd.net/page/article/1240
District expands robotics programs to 15 schools
04/24/2022
Through a deliberate expansion in access to robotics in its schools, San Antonio ISD has been forming competitive teams in the STEM field as young as the elementary level.
It’s a pipeline that is designed to help students develop their engineering and programming skills, as well as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and potentially stay engaged with STEM through the high school level and beyond.
“The goal is to expand these engagements to more than just our CTE campuses and programs because we see the value of adding the hands-on component of the building, designing, and coding robots,” Secondary STEM Coordinator Anna Olguin said. “The skills students gain are transferable in many different ways and enhance those 21st-century skills that so many districts are trying to impart to our young problem-solvers.”
This year, for the first time ever, Career and Technical Education, in collaboration with Poe Middle School, hosted the All-District FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition March 19. Teams from nine comprehensive middle schools attended, with four schools advancing to regional competition: Young Women’s Leadership Academy, Davis Middle School, Lowell Middle School, and Whittier Middle School. Whittier’s new coach Jaylon Harrison, who took over mid-season, also won the Coach/Mentor award.
Only six students comprised the Whittier RoboHawks team, who used a strategy of creating a simple robot that would not require many time-consuming attachment changes. They received the Breakthrough Award at region April 2.
“Robotics is important for middle schoolers because they are at a critical age of learning how to learn,” Harrison said. “It is an avenue for them to seek. Robotics expands your mind. It makes you look at things differently.”
At YWLA, the team RoboSquad had eight students on its team: four seventh graders, and two each in sixth and eighth grade. The seventh- and eighth-grade students are in a robotics class taught by coach Vanessa Wray.
“It was great to see the seventh and eighth graders mentoring the sixth graders and teaching them the coding basics,” Wray said.
Team RoboSquad went with a standard build on their robot but built four different attachments to attempt 13 of 17 possible missions in the competition. At region, they won the Rising Star All Star Award.
“They’re learning in robotics there’s not just one right answer, as well as the ability to persevere and try again and again,” Wray said. “It transfers into other courses as well — keep trying and trying until you get it right.”
At the high school level, three district schools competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), with Lanier High School advancing to state competition at the beginning of April. Lanier’s team built their robot, “Flip,” almost entirely of wood. Specialized team members had different roles including coding, shooting, driving, and scout. The team, whose senior members are now headed into programs including UTSA’s Cybersecurity program and UT’s aerospace engineering program, earned “Rookie All Star” and “Rookie Highest Seed” at its competition in Dripping Springs before going on to qualify for state with its alliance.
At state, the team prepared not only for the robot’s mission, but also for micro presentations to fellow students and judges.
“If FIRST was a curriculum, it would be the best curriculum because it forces a lot of things,” sponsor Jeremy Rios said. “Everything the first half of the TEKS say, it’s all of that, and little do the students realize they’re doing better at their public speaking. I don’t think there’s anything else in the classroom that exposes you to the stresses you would experience in a workplace.”
At Sam Houston High School, Team Aftermath consisted of two seniors and 10 ninth-grade students. The young team got exposed to competition culture at their first meet in Waco, and was able to improve and make quarterfinals in Austin two weeks later.
“The students got to see that after each match you keep working,” sponsor Diana Godines said. “We saw progress in those two weeks. It’s been such a great year seeing them grow.”
As they work to expand their pipeline and inspire future members, Team Aftermath ran their robot through the parade at Fiesta De Los Niños, demonstrating the technology they worked so hard to build.
Over at YWLA, the Electrobots FRC team was also making waves as the first all-girls robotics team in San Antonio. Anchored by seven upperclassmen, the majority of whom competed virtually last year, the 12-member team took on the challenge of competing in person again.
“They were on top of things,” sponsor Ignacia Kilgore said. “They had to grow up a little faster and become mentors to the freshmen and sophomores.”
To cap off their whirlwind season, the team was invited to run alongside Global STEM Ambassador Jay Flores at his appearance on American Ninja Warrior.
“He wanted people to see an all-girls team that built a robot,” Kilgore said. “He wanted to promote women in STEM.”
YWLA valedictorian Isabella Mazzucca was part of the team and is now headed to MIT to study electrical engineering and computer science. She said she is grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in STEM activities at the high school level.
“Providing access to these opportunities is extremely important, and I’m very grateful that this school did provide those opportunities, because I know there’s still a lot of work to be done to break the glass ceiling,” Mazzucca said.
The district’s investment in robotics for its schools is preparing future engineers of all grade levels and making a visible difference for its recent alumni.
“Ever since we got supplies from the district for engineering, we have gotten more students into prestigious universities and we’ve seen them stay in the field,” Kilgore said. “There are definitely long-term benefits to the program and we are seeing results.”
