Photo courtesy of Gilbert Shen

Junior Anson Lin teaches students how to build and program computer software and robots.

FTC Voltech led a robotics workshop course for students at Suzanne and South Pointe Middle School. 

The workshop took place over eight weeks to teach kids about computer software, construction, design and programming. With funding and location covered by the Chinese American Parents Association, the organization and the mentors hope to teach students the fundamentals of robotics.

“We’re going to help them design the shape of the robot with a program, which is a major skill that you need in the first place,” mentor junior Gilbert Shen said. They also learn the physical building aspect of the robot because you might think it’s easy to put some screws together, but it’s actually a lot more difficult.”  

Mentor junior John Yang finds difficulties in mentoring middle schoolers when managing their behavior. However, he still enjoys teaching the participants and building their knowledge in robotics.

“They don’t really view me as an authority figure because I’m a high schooler, but you have to really figure out the right way to teach the kids,” Yang said. “It’s fun to see how they develop and grow in a very short amount of time, and how much more knowledgeable they get. I just want them to have fun and potentially be inspired to join a field in STEM.”

Beyond the workshop itself, participants will learn life skills such as working with others and effective critical thinking. Voltech believes that the values they take out of the workshop would serve as a helpful experience for the kids. 

“There is so much teamwork. You can’t just build a robot by yourself. Working collaboratively with people is an important life skill that the students can practice when combining their ideas to make the best robot. They also learn to manage their materials and problem solve through the difficulties,” Shen said. “They will also present their robots a lot, and we really want them to develop these skills because these are the ones that are used in the real world.

The robotics program aims to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the middle school level. By bringing the workshop to the area, Voltech hopes it will increase overall interests in robotics.

“We hope to inspire them in STEM and maybe have them eventually join the robotics club when they get to high school. The end goal is for the students to take the robots and compete in a scaled down version of what professional robotics teams do. In the competition, they will be all attempting to see which robot is the best, and to really develop their interest in robotics with all these competitions,” Shen said.