Robotics is a club at Millbrook filled with dedicated members working hours after school almost every day. Mr. Mamel, the adviser of Robotics, guides members along the way. Robotics was granted $6,000 from NASA, United Therapeutics, and John Deer. The operations of this after-school activity take place in a backroom of the workshop in the main building. The main project they have worked toward completing for many months is a robot that shoots balls out of a catapult, is remote-controlled, and is capable of maneuvering smoothly. These capabilities that the robot possesses are built specially by the members of Robotics. Robotics allows any willing and hardworking students to join them. All skill levels are welcomed, technical or non-technical. The Robotics club at Millbrook went to the FIRST Robotics Competition on Saturday, March 4. They won 17th of 32 overall and won a Pit Safety award. They will do another competition at a different location, however it is virtually the same thing.

The FIRST Robotics Competition gives teams of high schoolers 6 weeks to make a robot for a challenging field game. Science, technology, engineering, and math are huge parts in the making of these robots, which are important 21st century life skills. FIRST Robotics claims to cause an 88% increase in participants having more interest in doing better in school and students being 92% more interested in attending college. Robotics Club members at Millbrook are also automatically entered into the FIRST Robotics Competition if they wish to be, which will gain them access to millions in college scholarships because of the places that support FIRST. Senior Mohamed Almontaser said, “We bond with team members, gain knowledge about engineering, and have lots of fun.” Many other members, such as juniors Antonio Bafia and Noah Showalter, describe the after school activity similarly and also mention all of the benefits the competition brings to their futures.

While Robotics at Millbrook has focused a lot on the robot construction for the FIRST Robotics Competition, they also work toward becoming critical thinkers. While the club is an extracurricular activity that provides many new skill sets, it also is an effective way to make new friends with similar interests. For example, engineers meeting up with other engineers or people looking to go into similar fields of work in the future to work toward a common interest would constitute as bonding. Robotics meets nearly every single day after school in the workshop, which means there are many learning, bonding, and friend-making opportunities.