RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – A Rutland-based robotics team is heading back next week to a national championship. But for the students on the team, the experience is more than just a competition.
After winning the New England District Competition for the FIRST Lego League, Rutland Area Robotics’ IBOTS team has qualified for the national competition for high schoolers.
FIRST means — For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. “Ultimately, FIRST robotics is a workforce development program. So, our real effort are to get kids the skills they need to be competitive in the next generation of workforce and then into post-secondary education,” said Dan Roswell, Rutland Area Robotics’ president.
The program has been able to lead young adults into potential STEM careers. “STEM was always something I was really interested in but not something I thought I could do. I come from a very humanities-focused family and I just never thought I could have the knowledge or resources to like go into STEM as a career, and IBOTS has opened a lot of that up for me,” said Agatha Hopkins, an RHS junior on the team.
RHS junior Finian Smathers wants to help more incoming students who have an interest in the field. “I do my best to lead by example, you know. I try to do a lot of teaching for incoming students so they have access to all the same resources and experiences that I have had access to,” he said.
The team was awarded the District FIRST Impact Award, given to teams that represent a model for others to follow, and many of its members are serving as role models for others.
“A huge thing that I started with is making sure that girls have a huge foundation in STEM,” said team member Margo Thompson.
The team will travel to Houston for next week’s national competition.
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Source: Rutland robotics team headed to Houston for national competition
