Boardman Center robot takes first place

Photo

Neighbors | Submitted .The Boardman Center Middle School robotics team took first place overall in the 2010 Northeast Ohio Robotics Education Program competition at YSU Mar. 10. Back row (from left): coach Paula Ritter, Chloe Kephart, Doug Kephart, Marcus Masello, Sumner Shreiber and coach Kate Cretella; front row (from left): Blaise Obritz, Robin Goist, Hannah Sadlowski and Cole Glaser.

By GRACE WYLER

gwyler@vindy.com

After weeks of hard work and preparation, the robotics team from Boardman Center Middle School took home first place in the 2010 Northeast Ohio Robotics Education Program competition at Youngstown State University Mar. 10.

The team, made up of eight students under the coaching direction of computer science teacher Paula Ritter and librarian Kate Cretella, earned first place in both of the tournament games. The students were also awarded first-place honors for best presentation and best design.

“BCMS students were very dedicated,” Ritter said. “The team was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done.”

Over the course of 10 weeks, the team came in every morning to program and build their autonomous robot, Ritter said. Students also worked on presentations, journals and technical reports about their robot.

“Each student was a necessity to the team, which was instrumental to the team’s success,” Ritter said. “Every student made a contribution.”

In addition to teaching students how to build solid structures and use calculations, the Boardman Center robotics program teaches lifelong skills like teamwork, problem solving and public speaking, Cretella said.

The Northeast Ohio Robotics Education Program is a regional high school and middle school robotics competition run annually through the Office of Associate Degree and Tech Programs at YSU.

The program is designed to motivate students toward careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, said Arlene Floyd, the director of the program.

“The United States, and especially Ohio, is really lagging behind the rest of the world in producing STEM workers,” Floyd said. “We wanted to get students interested in engineering and science careers by introducing them to robotics.”

Floyd, one of the founders of the program, “has created a wonderful way for middle schools to be able to ‘showcase’ their hard work,” Ritter said.

The cost of many middle school and high school robotics programs often prohibits schools from competing, Floyd said. The robotics competition operates on a “shoestring budget” in order to keep costs low so all schools can participate, she said.

“The program was designed to get average schools involved in robotics,” Floyd said. “We are not looking for engineering students. We are looking for teachers who are dedicated and want to do this.”

In addition to teaching students robotics, the robotics competiton emphasizes teamwork and problem solving, Floyd said.

“We emphasize that it is the process, and not the competition, that is important,” Floyd said.