ADAMS—Downstairs beneath Southland Middle/High School is what students know as “the Bot Cave.”

During practice on Tuesday afternoon, VEX Robotics teams were preparing their robots for competition in the tournament being held in Austin on Saturday, Jan. 19.

Students were busy making adjustments to their robots, testing them on out the practice field. Some were making calculations and observations in their engineering journals and watching other matches from competitors to see what they could do to improve their own robots.

“Robotics is amazing and fun,” said Roman Olson, an eighth grade student and VEX Robotics team member. “I’ve made friends from all over the world.”

More than 450 elementary, middle and high school students from around Minnesota will compete in Austin next Saturday for the 2018-2019 VEX Robotics Competition game, Turning Point.

Featuring 95 teams who will compete against other schools in back-to-back challenge, participants will get a chance to vie for the championship title by using robots students designed to stack caps on posts, flipping caps, stacking balls on caps, toggling flags, launching balls and parking robots. Several teams from the area will be competing, such as Sacred Heart Catholic Schools, Southland, Austin Public Schools and more.

Using remote controls, team members move the robots on the practice stage and launch balls to hit targets as well as navigate the mechanics of having their robots lift rings to hang on stands as well as climb steps. This type of program, which allows students to see STEM come to life, has inspired some.

“You can use a lot of different things like math, programming and technology,” said Cody Krull, a seventh grade student. “I definitely foresee myself doing robotics for my entire time here.”

After having secured impressive wins at their last tournament that earned them an automatic invitation to the state tournament, Southland has been making a name for itself in robotics, earning accolades such as the Excellence Award and awards for building.

Next Saturday’s event is one in a series of tournaments that are taking place globally throughout the year. VEX competitions are considered to be the largest and fastest growing competitive robotics programs for schools around the world, and competitions typically represent more than 20,000 teams from 45 countries that participate in more than 1,500 VEX competitions worldwide.

When the VEX Robotics teams first started a couple years ago, there were only a handful of students that were interested. However, the program increased in popularity, with younger students expressing excitement in being able to continue on at the middle/high school level, according to Paula Mortenson, the middle/high school coach for Southland Robotics. Now the team fluctuates between 22-23 students.

“We’ve got three middle school teams and a high school team,” Mortenson said. “Next year, we’ll have two high school teams possibly and two middle school teams. Once we get to the spring, we’ll put out applications to see who’s coming back and who’s interested in joining. It’s really grown.”

Those interested in robotics attend a 40-hour boot camp for incoming students to learn the basics, which differs from the elementary program in which students were introduced to robotics. This time, they are able to cut metal, programming is more complex, and scheduling becomes a challenge.

However, Mortenson said that the commitment she sees from her students has been nothing less but impressive.

“Some Saturdays we meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and students meet quite a bit after school,” she said. “Some teams come in after school. They need to maintain their grades, and many participate in theatre and athletics, and FFA. So, fitting it all together is a challenge. Kids want it and even give up their study hall time to be down here in the Bot Cave.”

The building of a team

When robotics was still fairly new to Southland, Mortenson said that students weren’t sure what to expect. What wasn’t a surprise to her was that these students took to robotics naturally since many have grown up around technology.

“Southland has a pretty strong STEM based curriculum and we were hoping that this would be a natural step for the future,” Mortenson said. “Robotics uses a lot of skills that are being learned aside from STEM, such as being collaborative, problem solving and marketing. It’s such a well-rounded program set up to teach the students real skills, whether in robotics or not.”

Getting a VEX IQ program at the middle/high school was no easy task. It took about a decade to get a program into the hands of older students. The elementary school had already dabbled in LEGO Robotics, but the scheduling was difficult to arrange for middle school and high school students. It was only about five years ago when the first VEX Robotics kits came to the middle/high school, and since then, Southland had been building a solid team for competition.

VEX Robotics surged in popularity and high demand for school districts across the country. With an increasing need for skilled workers in STEM fields, educators hope to add more courses that incorporate skills such as engineering, mathematics and science. This type of interest doesn’t appear to be waning any time soon.

“I think students see interest in the technical fields,” Mortenson said. “They get to see the immediate results of their hard work and doing real problem solving, and love it. They want to learn these types of things, so it’s kind of a win-win situation in education.”

Southland students have early exposure to robotics from when the program first started with LEGO Robotics to VEX IQ. Mortenson described this to be a “natural transition” for elementary students as they go onto the upper level.

“Paula Schmitz at the elementary has done a fantastic job,” Mortenson said. “Now we’ve had that success from top to bottom. Kids are hooked and are wanting to be a part of that.”

This type of programming is a collaborative effort. Southland works closely with Austin Public Schools, and Dexter Township has vocalized extreme support in helping the teams get what they need for competition, such as equipment.

“They’re excited to see what the students are doing,” Mortenson said. “The community is one of the largest supporters.”

One of the major challenges that most school districts struggle with when starting up a VEX Robotics program isn’t the funding or lack of interest necessarily, but rather finding the coaches who would volunteer many hours to help with running the program.

“Coming from a district so small sometimes, students may be feeling like there aren’t as many opportunities, but here at Southland, they’re excited about what we have to offer,” Mortenson said. “Honestly, when looking at neighboring districts that aren’t starting up VEX Robotics programs, a lot of larger places are having trouble finding advisors who are willing to put in the time, and it’s difficult. …students would be there if they want a program and to find a person to take it is a pretty big task.”

Since robotics was added into the STEM curriculum, there is hope that students will continue to find ways to be inspired to go into a variety of different fields and build a foundation for the future.

“It’s just natural,” Mortenson said. “I’m so proud of our students for seeing how much time they dedicate to this. It’s so much fun and this is why I’m in education. Just to see that is just very moving.”