By Hunt Brabrand

In our modern society, technology is rapidly developing to the point where many people use complex devices every day without understanding how they truly work. While some are comfortable with this limited mindset, it has become imperative that we try to gain a deeper understanding of how these major parts of our lives actually operate. As Robotics and Engineering Program Leader Ralph Rivera puts it, “Technology isn’t magic; it’s the project of human ingenuity.” 

Recognizing the importance of teaching its students to not perceive technology as something mysterious, but rather as something they can strive to understand, Collegiate starts teaching students STEM-based concepts from an early age. Through a rapidly growing set of robotics opportunities in the Lower and Middle Schools, students begin exploring the world of technology, enabling them to become innovators, creators, and problem-solvers rather than uninformed consumers. 

STEM starts in the Lower School through multiple activities, including in-school and extra-curricular opportunities. students can join FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Explore, an afterschool activity offered to 3rd and 4th Graders, run by Lower School STEAM Coordinator Frank Becker and supported by Rivera. This program serves as an introduction to robotics for students, teaching them engineering concepts through building, coding, and research.

To encourage a learning-based experience, FLL Explore provides a structured timeline of events for participants to complete. Based on themes, such as music, oceanography and archaeology, students learn and create a showcase in place of a formal competition.

Lower School students create their robots using the LEGO Spike Essential robotics system, which consists of motors, sensors, and Technic pieces, allowing for creativity in solutions. However, Becker and Rivera have begun to notice the limitations of LEGO Spike Essential with, surprisingly, students striving to create more complex systems. Because of this, they are considering the more capable Spike Prime Hub, used for storing and executing the robots’ code, which is currently used in the Middle School. This shift could offer more opportunities for Lower School robotics students and better ease the transition between divisions.

Besides FLL Explore, Collegiate also provides camps through Summer Quest, classes, and other introductory programs for Lower Schoolers to continue developing STEM skills.

Students testing their FLL robot for an upcoming competition.

The Middle School robotics program expands both in size and expectations. Students can sign up to participate in the STEM Competition activity, where they compete in FLL Challenge. This year, interest is exceedingly high, with around 70 Middle School students forming 13 teams that meet three to five times per week.

Teams prepared for competitions held in late November to early December, supported by their coaches: Middle and Upper School Instructional Technology Coach Rachael Rachau, Director of Instructional Technology Patty Sinkler, Middle School eLAB Facilitator Daniel Bell, and Rivera, with Athletics Administrative Assistant Kelsey Watson serving as the subject-expert coach for all teams. Watson provides additional expertise through her position as an archeologist with Raising Voices Charles City Archaeology.

This year, the Middle School robotics program has seen a major shift in how mentors assist teams. Previously, coaches supported students collectively as questions arose, but this “zone defence coaching model,” as Rivera puts it, made it difficult for coaches to follow teams’ long-term progress. Now, teams are each paired with a dedicated mentor, a “man-to-man model,” to encourage deeper guidance and targeted problem solving. Rivera says that this change has significantly improved teams’ performances, confidence, and project quality.

Middle School students use the LEGO Spike Prime robotics system, which provides them with greater design flexibility, more inputs and outputs for motors and sensors, and more advanced sensors. Students can experience more engineering-based opportunities in the Middle School, such as the STEM Primer activity for 5th and 6th Graders, a Pre-TORCH activity for 7th and 8th Graders that prepares them for Upper School robotics, robotics summer camps, and a dedicated 8th Grade STEAM class.

Students’ FLL Innovation Project.

Across both divisions, the robotics programs are guided by a clear philosophy: students should feel like practitioners of STEM. As Rivera explained, students don’t need to leave understanding everything about robotics; they simply need to feel that they could be a part of engineering, that the “shoe can fit.”

FIRST’s yearly themes help bring this idea to life, allowing students to explore a wide variety of ideas throughout their education. It helps blur the line between isolated robotics activities and real world problems. Experiences like visiting Robins Campus to see field-painting robots or participating in mock dig sites show students that STEM careers are not only possible, but plausible.

Moving forward, Rivera hopes to ease the transition between the Lower and Middle Schools’ robotics programs. Possible steps include using Spike Prime in both divisions, inviting Middle Schoolers to present to the Lower School, and allowing Lower School students to participate in FLL Challenge early, if they are eager. Overall, Collegiate’s Lower and Middle School robotics programs not only teach technology, but encourage students to shape it. 

By treating robotics as a tool for discovery rather than a mystery to consume, students learn that it isn’t just something to idly use, but rather that they have the potential to become its innovators.

All photos by Hunt Brabrand.