St. B’s Robotics Is Growing — Come Join Us!

Katie Axe
1 hour ago
3 min read

We have some exciting things happening in STEAM this year — St. B’s Robotics is growing to two Middle School teams!

Led by Melissa Crimminger, our robotics teams follow the FIRST LEGO League model, giving students the opportunity to build, code, problem-solve, collaborate, compete, and apply what they are learning to real-world challenges.

Spaces are limited, and our teams are already filling up, but we still have a few spots available! Practices are held on Mondays and Thursdays from 3:30 – 4:30 P.M., and the season continues through the end of April. Regional competitions take place in November or December, with additional rounds continuing into the spring if a team advances.

If your Middle School student is interested in joining, reach out to Mrs. Crimminger at m.crimminger@stbs.org.

One of my favorite things about robotics is that you do not have to be a "robotics kid" to be great at robotics. Some of the best teams are made up of students who bring completely different strengths to the table.

We need the builder. The future coder. The creative problem-solver. The researcher who asks a million questions. And definitely the kid who looks at something that isn't working and says, "Wait...I have an idea!"

There is a place for all of them on a robotics team!

More Than Building a Robot

This year's theme is BioGlow, with students exploring biodiversity and real-world problems connected to the living world. But robotics is about SO much more than building a LEGO robot.

Students design, build, code, test, troubleshoot, redesign, and try again. Along the way, they learn how to work as a team, communicate their ideas, manage their time, persevere when something isn't working, and solve problems independently.

They learn pretty quickly that the robot doesn't care how great their idea sounded — they have to figure out how to actually make it work!

And that is where some of the best learning happens. That is exactly what we want STEAM to be.

Building a Robotics Legacy at St. B's

There is also a bigger goal behind expanding to two teams this year: we want to build a robotics legacy at St. B's.Two years ago, our robotics team advanced all the way to the State competition! Last year, after an especially strong group of 8th graders graduated, we found ourselves rebuilding.

That showed us an opportunity.

We want students to grow through our robotics program — joining as younger Middle School students, learning from older teammates, developing their skills year after year, and eventually becoming the 8th graders who lead and encourage the next group.

Expanding to two teams allows more students to participate while helping us build experienced teammates and leaders from year to year.

And for our younger Stingers already thinking, "I want to do that!" — keep robotics on your radar! The building, coding, creating, collaborating, and problem-solving you are doing now can help prepare you for this Middle School opportunity.

If your Middle School student enjoys building, coding, LEGO, engineering, science, creating, competing, puzzles, or simply figuring out how things work, encourage them to consider robotics.

They don't have to come in knowing how to do it. That's why they joined the team!

Come learn. Come build. Come code. Come problem-solve. Come compete.

And come help us build the next generation of St. B's Robotics!