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| 7th grade members of the Junior Plaids (L to R): Amanda Giordano, Abby Wukitch, Lillian Wood & Kiara Cronin |
The latest edition to the robotics programs at UA--which already include junior high technology classes and a high school FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Team, the Robots in Plaid--is a junior high robotics club. This group of 7th and 8th grade students interested in robotics dubbed themselves the Junior Plaids and is in it's first year in 2012-2013.
Sheila Orechia '14 and Grace Ryan '14, both members of the high school Robots in Plaid, mentor their younger robotics counterparts. "We started the Junior Plaids because a big part our robotics competition deals with outreach and spreading technology awareness to the community," Sheila said. "We thought that a good way to do that would be to spread robotics to the 7th and 8th graders in the Ursuline community."
The Junior Plaids competed in their first competition in November, with a theme of "Senior Solutions." They programmed their robot to do various tasks and challenges that have the potential to be helpful to senior citizens. Tasks included programming the robot to turn off a hot "stove" and using color sensor programs to select the correct "pill bottle" and return it to the robot base. The students must program the robot to complete as many tasks as possible in 2 minutes and 30 seconds for the competition.
Abby Wukitch '18 designed the Junior Plaids' official competition t-shirt this year, and has also been recruiting her friends to join the club. The Junior Plaids started out with only two 7th graders this fall, but now that number has increased to five. Though the competition season is over, the Junior Plaids still meet every Monday after school. "We are using this time to learn new techniques, like motors and color sensors, and do research on next year's theme, which is Natural Disasters," said Mrs. Jennifer Brown, the Science/Technology teacher who also serves as moderator of the club.
Sheila and Grace have also taken an active leadership role with the Junior Plaids. "At first it was hard because you have to direct them in a way that is going to guide them without giving the answer," Grace said. Sheila agreed, "The motto for the club is 'Figure it out' because they should be figuring it out and learning the process, rather than Mrs. Brown or us telling them what to do."
With ten 7th and 8th graders already signed up for next year, it seems that the Junior Plaids are ready to figure it out. While working on the robot at only her second meeting, Kiara Cronin '18 said "I can't wait to go to the competition next year!"
But if you can't wait until next year, check out this "Day in the Life" video from the Junior Plaids' first competition, created by Mrs. Brown: