This year's team (pictured above at the district championships in Livonia) was made up of (first row, left) Erin Strausser, Loralyn Peeler, Daniel Achin, Kaitlyn Liveoak, Katie Hutter, Brent Nester, (second row, left) Kayla Wheeler, Haley Mortensen, Charles Maida, Dalton Adkins, Patrick Wetzel, Grant Okdie, Shelby Nester, Justin Adkins, Zachary Wilkes, Russell Kahler, James Mulcahy, (back row, left) Alex Holt, Joseph Horth, Robert Montes, Christian Hutter, Harsimiranjit Sekhon, Jared Rexford, Jason Farris, Tyler Drapczyk and Adam Vick.
The
TNT280 Robotics Team recently completed its regular season schedule by
finishing up in the state championships. I caught up with Joe Horth, team
leader and one of four mentors in the program, via email for a special “Talking
Taylor Schools Q&A” on the team and the program.
Question: How long has the district had this
program?
Horth: We
have had a high school F.I.R.S.T. robotics program for 15 years.
How did you become involved with
robotics? How long have you been involved with the Taylor program?
I
became involved after staying after school and watching the team during its first
year and was approached by a couple of the teachers involved to help out. I
have been involved now for 14 years. The second year I was with the team I
was asked by the director of the Career Center (then Dr. Terry Turner) to
head up the team and have been doing so for the past 13 years.
When it started, how many students participated?
I believe
there were 30 students the first year.
How many participate now? And how does that
compare with other districts?
We have
24 students involved this year and that is around our usual number. We typically
have between 24 and 34 students. Most teams are around 24, there are teams with
well over 50 and teams with four or five.
What skills do robotics' club
members need to possess? What do they need to bring to the table to begin and
what do they learn?
We prefer the
word “team” to club. The students can earn their varsity letter, and new students
just need to bring a willingness to learn new things and a decent work
ethic. We have all types of students from the student that can take apart your car
and put it back together to the advanced-placement-everything student who has
study skills that are off of the charts.
We have
found that by coupling the different types of students together, they learn
from each other. As far as what they will learn (as part of the program), that
is a vast subject. They learn everything from basic tools to complex
programming, as well as interpersonal skills required to work as a team.
How much time is required to
participate per week?
During
the build season (six weeks prior to competition), the students start at 3
p.m. and 3-4 p.m. is homework hour, where they do homework. If they do not have any homework, they peer
tutor their fellow teammates.
Then we
get to work on the various tasks of the day and break for dinner (which is
supplied by the parents) at 6 p.m. and then continue with robot-related tasks about
9 p.m. During the offseason we typically meet one or two days a week from 3-6
p.m.
Your team won an award recently during a
competition. What other awards have you won in the past?
We won three awards this year:
The Gracious Professionalism Award at the Detroit/Centerline District
Competition, The Industrial Safety Award at the Livonia district competition
and the same award at the Michigan state competition. We have won many awards
in the past.
(The industrial safety awards are sponsored by Underwriters
Laboratories and celebrate the team that progresses beyond safety fundamentals
by using innovative ways to eliminate or protect against hazards. The winning
team consistently demonstrates excellence in industrial safety performance that
shines throughout the competition from opening equipment to repacking. The
gracious professionalism award is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, and
celebrates outstanding sportsmanship and continuous “gracious professionalism”
in the heat of competition, both on and off the playing field.)
The team made it into the
quarterfinals at Detroit/Centerline; and into the district semifinals, which
ranked 51st
in the state out of 207 teams, with the top 64 going to the state championships.
We suffered with bandwidth issues (the robots operate on Wi-Fi). Despite the
help of four amazing experts, we were unable too identify the issue, but we
continued to compete. However, the wins were not coming and we finished 64th in the state.
Do you have some Taylor robotics team success stories? Do you have
former students in college or in business because of their experiences in the
program?
We have had numerous students go
on to college or the workforce. In fact, I’m currently working on a list of all
of our alumni and where they are now. We have had numerous scholarship winners
over the years, ranging from full tuition grants down to $500 awards. The last
time I checked, I believe the total number was about $350,000 worth.
What would you say to anyone out there who is reading this and is now
interested in the program?
Don’t hesitate to get involved.
Contact the team, myself, any team member at either Kennedy or Truman high
school. Don’t ever think that you don’t have anything to offer. It takes all
kinds of “experts” that the program offers activities for any type of student.
During the Q & A process, Horth was able
to get in touch with a pair of former robotics team members. Here is what they
had to say about the Taylor program:
From Kristi Patanella, product support engineer, North American Support Line, Micro Focus:
“I was on the TNT Robotics team from 1998-2001. I have a Bachelors
of Science in Software Engineering, a Masters in Information Systems and I am a
Product Support Engineer for a software development team.
“Being on the robotics team was the greatest experience of
my life and helped prepare me for many challenges that I had faced in the
future. This was especially in college and during my current career as an
engineer in software.
“The (leaders in the program offered) guidance and support
that was what kept me off the path of trouble and to the path of success.
To work in engineering, you need to have a logical, ambitious,
solution-oriented mind with a strong ability to work as part of a team. TNT
Robotics and the team of mentors guided us to have the mindset
that is required in the work environment, but still motivated by teaching
us to be prideful in our hard work.
“I will always have TNT Robotics and Mr. Joe Horth to thank
for my success today.”
From Nicole Milkovic, University of Nebraska:
“Being on a robotics team changed my life. Originally, I
went to a different high school where my chemistry teacher, Mr. Jones, recruited
me on a robotics team. My role on the team wasn’t as a builder, but as part of
the media team, where I was in charge of getting our team noticed on and off
the field.
“In a strange turn of events, I ended up at Truman High
School, a robotics-free environment, and I felt empty. Due to
the training I received at my first school, I started pitching the idea to
everyone who would listen to me. I needed Truman to have a robotics program.
“Mr. Vandette, my chemistry teacher, listened and
responded. Although I fell into the same type of role on the new team, I never
forgot my chemistry teachers, and in particular Mr. Vandette, who inspired me
along the way.
“It was because of them, and their support, that
I felt comfortable proposing ideas to Dean Kamen and Woody Flowers, which
would involve more chemistry in the game plays. It was because of them that I went
on to study Chemistry and Biochemistry at Michigan Technological University. It
was because of them that I am now getting my Ph.D. in Biochemistry and
Biophysics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“It isn’t about what you do on the team, it’s about the
positive influence you receive, the teamwork you participate in, the
friendships that you develop and the confidence that you build along the way.”
For more information on the Taylor robotics program,
contact Joe Horth at horthj@taylor.k12.mi.us
or click on the TNT280 Web site here.
