Stanislaus County High School robotics team attends the 2016 FIRST World Championships In ST Louis, Missouri
By Michelle Laverty
Beyer High School’s Robotics team, the Iron Patriots, won the Engineering Inspiration Award and were awarded entry into the 2016 FIRST World Championship in St Louis, Missouri on April 26-30. Team 4135 received a grant from NASA for their work to spread Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to students at area elementary and middle schools.
Having just finished their 5th year as a team, the Iron Patriots are the first team in Modesto City Schools’ history to compete at a world championship. They joined more than 20,000 students from 900 teams representing 42 countries at the world’s largest robotics competition.
The Beyer High School Iron Patriots competed in international alliances, attended conferences on how to improve their skills as programmers, leaders and fundraisers and had the opportunity to meet with future employers and collegiate representatives. Keynote speakers at the event included the NASA Administrator and musician and philanthropist Will.I.Am., who visited with members of the drive team.
The Engineering Inspiration Award was presented to the Iron Patriots for their work in assisting in the creation of nine FIRST Lego League and two FIRST Technical Challenge teams for elementary and middle school. These teams included the establishment of a team at Modesto’s Franklin Elementary School. For the past two years, the Iron Patriots have hosted FIRST Lego League tournaments where teams from all around California come to compete. The Iron Patriots also mentored a team in Los Angeles via Skype.
The Iron Patriots pride themselves on the fact that every former team member is attending college despite their financial situation, far outpacing Stanislaus County’s extremely low four-year college rate. Involvement in the program introduces students to hands on learning of engineering and mathematics, in addition to giving them opportunities in problem solving business, leadership, public speaking, advertisement, and writing. Volunteer mentors assist the team with programming, electrical and mechanical skills during the six-week build season support the Iron Patriots. FIRST Robotics completion challenges are released in early January and the team attends competitions in Madera and Davis each March. Robotics may be the way to future, but we are much more than robots.
The Beyer Iron Patriots are supported by the Beyer Robotics Booster Club a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, for more information or to become a mentor, call Heidi Pagani at 209-480-9658.
