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Editor's Notes

• #2: This presentation is intended for use at Open Houses. The Buckley School presents two Open Houses throughout the year in an effort to lure new students into our community. In spite of the design to be a kiosk presentation, I chose to leave the “show types” and “show options” as if I were reviewing the presentation. Most often, students are looking to transfer into our school in the 7th grade or 9th grade. The Upper School Robotics Team is available for any student in grades 9 – 12 to join and Middle School Robotics is presented as a part of the curriculum in the 8th grade Physical Science course. These programs incorporate many facets of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). So, parents and students with interests in such fields often look at these programs as great initiators for studying STEM in the future. In fact, many universities around the country mentor FIRST Robotics teams. Furthermore, there are a significant number of universities that offer different levels of scholarships for students who participate in FIRST. Additionally, there is a business aspect to the robotics programs, especially in the Upper School, because the cost of entry in the competition and parts can reach a minimum of $10,000.This presentation will make a positive impact on student learning because it will elicit interest from students and families that are looking for a good STEM centered education, as well as alert current community members to the growth and significance of this program. The robotics program at Buckley began with two seniors (slides 4 and 5), one junior (slide 5) and me. The four of us set out to provide a new outlet for students that had no way of practicing what they were learning in science and math classes. As a result, these three students recruited four other students to be a part of the first year robotics program. Over the next three years, our Upper School Robotics Team has grown to nearly thirty students in grades 9 – 12 and from varying levels of STEM understanding. Additionally, the middle school robotics program was started to elicit interest at the Upper School level in an effort to perpetuate Robotics at The Buckley School. This presentation will serve as an additional tool to continue the interest in applied science and mathematics by our student body, as well as encourage new families to become a part of a fascinating project.
• #4: This logo officially designated the Grifftrons as The Buckley School Robotics Team. I had a long dialogue with the administration regarding the use of the Griffin as a caricature of the school’s athletics mascot.
• #5: AdityaKohli and Robeson Bowmani – Senior students who started the robotics program with me and one junior.
• #6: AdityaKohli, Robeson Bowmani, and Emma Tyrer (junior co-coordinator of first year robotics program).
• #7: FIRST is an international competition that professes Gracious Professionalism.
• #8: Griffitron 1
• #9: Griffitron 3
• #11: Students worked a countless number of hours designing, building, fabricating, assembling, and programming robots for six weeks, typically from the first full week in January through President’s Day. Competitions all over the world begin the week following President’s Day and culminate with the World Championships in Atlanta the first weekend of April.
• #12: We had very few sponsors due to being a private school. However, our primary sponsor was First Class Foods and we would not have survived four years without their assistance with money, parts, and mentors. Most teams are sponsored by a division of NASA, a university, or some engineering/manufacturing company (NASA, Ford, GM, Lockheed-Martin, Northrop-Gruman, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Cal-State Northridge, etc).
• #13: The kids enjoyed using the power tools so much that they created a new language for describing the function of the tool and the appropriate level of PPE needed. Above right is the Spark Master (aka Personality, aka rotary grinder) and Mr. Twister above left (aka cordless drill/driver).
• #14: Our students competed in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego through FIRST.
• #15: The Robotics Program existed in my small room in the Lower School on our campus. Often times, fifth graders could be found poking their heads in the door to observe the chaos. Our kids felt very comfortable in interacting with their younger schoolmates and enjoyed describing the work they were doing to create their robot. The fifth graders typically just stared and smiled.
• #16: Three of the five female participants in our program. Over the past four years we have grown from one female student to five female students participating in the program.
• #17: The seniors.
• #18: Middle School Robotics is included in the 8th grade curriculum.
• #19: We use the VEX Robotics kit originally created by FIRST and Radio Shack.
• #20: Students are in design groups of no more than five students and they are given a task to complete each quarter. The first project is the construction of the Squarebot (slide 18) in class, but the remaining projects take place on the students’ time throughout the remaining three quarters.
• #21: Most groups are fairly well-integrated with male and female students. However, I have noticed the all female teams work the best together and typically have the best overall functioning robot.
• #22: Testing and Programming of each design project is critical throughout the quarter.
• #27: The final test of the design brings a lot of excitement to the campus as the 8th graders are quite anxious to test their designs in front of their classmates, faculty, and staff.
• #29: No matter the outcome of the robot project, the students always end the project with a good amount of satisfaction with the work and effort they have put forth.