Lake Shore High School has several clubs where students can innovate and develop creativity throughout the school year. One of these clubs is Robotics. Overseen by Mr. Lount, this club focuses on teamwork to construct a robot to compete.
The Robotics Team is part of a non-profit organization that supports numerous high school robotics clubs nationwide. This organization is known as “FIRST Robotics.” This organization gives every team a challenge for the new year, which must be completed in a several-week span: build, design, and code a robot to compete in a competition to do certain tasks.
Senior Lucas Huffman stated, “This season’s task is Reefscape, where a team’s robot must pick up ‘coral’ (PVC pipes) and put them in stations and ‘algae’ (large dodgeballs) into loading areas to add extra points to your team, the winner usually gets a high rank amongst thirty plus teams there. The top 8 get to pick two other teams to group up with them to be in a tournament and the winner competes in states.”
Lake Shore’s Robotics team competes competitively in two competitions per season against several other schools in the state. These competitions occur from March till the end of April and happen at colleges or high schools large enough to host these events.
Many of the students in the Robotics Team have faith in this upcoming season. Senior Simon Kozak, a member since the beginning of the club’s reintroduction in 2021, said, “This upcoming season we are hoping to build a successful robot and be able to take it to States as our team this year is mainly seniors due to the lack of interest and would like to go as far as we can. Due to the lack of members, it’s also hard to find funds for our team and get new parts that are needed as well as being able to afford admission to these competitions. So we are also hoping to get more funds so that our team/club will be able to continue after we graduate.”
Robotics is one of the clubs that Lake Shore High School is fortunate enough to have. This club teaches you how to craft robots that are formed like a metal RC car with mechanical arms, the design process incorporated in the robot, and the coding it takes to make it complete the tasks needed to earn points, which will help innovate your technological future and broaden your perspective to new careers that may serve an interest to you. Robotics not only teaches you all of these valuable tools but also creates new friendships and wonderful moments that will last a lifetime.
Prior experience in coding or knowledge of robotics is not required to join this club. If you are interested in joining Robotics, you are welcome to join one of the meetings held on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays after school, in Mrs. Miller’s classroom, #119.