By Valerie Franchi, Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields are getting a boost through growing participation in robotics programs. In Shrewsbury, more than 1,000 students, elementary through high school, have been involved in Shrewsbury Robotics since it began over 15 years ago.
Affiliated with FIRST Robotics, an international organization, Shrewsbury Robotics’ mission is “to provide students in the Shrewsbury Public School system an opportunity to develop real world expertise in a fun, competitive atmosphere,” according to the website.
Shrewsbury High School Team 467, comprised of 45 Shrewsbury High School students has been busy preparing for their “build season” which began Jan. 3 and runs through Feb. 17.
Each year the team builds an entirely new robot, then the competitions begin, explained Robotics Program Director Carol McInally, culminating in the international championships in April in St. Louis.
Last year, Team 467 earned awards in district competitions – the Innovation Award in Lewiston, Maine, and the Entrepreneurship Award at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). They hope to continue the winning trend in Nashua, N.H., and Hartford, Conn., this year.
But more importantly, McInally said, “the kids have so much fun; they have a great time.”
“It helps them feel comfortable trying new things, take risks, and learn to fail and try again,” she noted. “They definitely learn from it; they take lessons away with them. It affects them for their whole lives.”
McInally added that often students will join with little interest in engineering and “before you know it, they are up to their elbows in robots. It’s very satisfying.”
Students from the robotics team are also using their learned skills to mentor and coach 10 middle school FIRST Lego League (FLL) Robotics teams, partner with schools to teach simple machines, run a summer Lego camp, and host one of the region’s largest FLL tournaments, “Mindstorm Mayhem,” which hosted over 40 teams from central Mass. and Metrowest in December at Oak Middle School.
To help fund the Robotics program, the team has held an annual apple pie fundraiser for the past 12 years. Before Thanksgiving the team takes orders and bakes pies from scratch in the Oak Middle School cafeteria. This year, the team baked 700 apple pies and donated over 50 pies to a local veterans’ group.
They also recently began offering Lego Robotics birthday parties. Members of Team 467 create customized activities, depending on the ages of the party guests, and bring all the necessary supplies.
Funds raised help support the program, which McInally said is “very expensive.”
“Every year we build a new robot to compete, which cost around $4,000 each,” she said. There is also the cost of other materials and travel to competitions.
Members of the local business community also support Shrewsbury Robotics, including: Friends sponsors – Vangy Tool Company, Inc., and Seagate; FIRST sponsors: Chief Joseph of HairLines, Inc. and Metso; STEM sponsors – BOSE, Wheelabrator Shrewsbury and Columbia Tech – Coghlin Company; Swerve sponsors – Beaton Kane Construction, Central One Federal Credit Union, Shrewsbury Federal Credit Union and Novo Technic; and Patron sponsors – Polito Development Corporation, Avidia Bank, Bowditch & Dewey – Christopher G. Mehne, ESQ, the Committee to Elect Hannah Kane for State Representative and the Committee to Elect Jason Palitsch for State Representative
For more information, visit www.shrewsburyrobotics.org or contact [email protected].
