Robotics
When students build robots, robots build STEAM-loving students. Just ask any member of FIRST® Robotics Team 1939, which has qualified for six World Championships and won dozens of awards since 2006. But robotics at Barstow is about much more than competition.
It’s about leadership, sportsmanship and service to the community. Team 1939 members build competition robots — and routinely win top awards for their efforts — but they also use their STEM skills to serve others. In classrooms and clubs, robotics students learn mechanical and electrical engineering, design thinking, tool usage, prototyping, wiring and programming. They become innovators and confident thinkers as they solve problems and refine their work. And they transform lives through community service.
Program with a Purpose
Service & Leadership
Service and leadership are hallmarks of the Barstow robotics program. Team 1939 members are leaders of Go Baby Go, a program that adapts ride-on cars as mobility vehicles for children with disabilities. Working with Variety Children’s Charity of Greater Kansas City, Barstow hosts an annual Go Baby Go community build with regional robotics teams, and our students have provided 80 families with vehicles since 2015. Team 1939 also created an instructional manual and global online forum so other chapters can follow Barstow’s lead.
Competition
The FIRST Robotics competition season begins in January and builds toward World Championships in April. Under strict rules with limited time and resources, students are challenged to build industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game in alliance with other teams. Our students learn the value of teamwork and sportsmanship as they compete in the “sport of the mind,” traveling to regional tournaments and compete at World Championships.
Robotics Courses
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Middle School VEX Robotics
Students learn to build robots—and character. They work in small teams to build, modify and program VEX robots to complete challenges and compete against each other. They also learn to work under the pressure of competition in a fun, supportive environment. -
Upper School Engineering Design & Robotics
Project-based courses focus on the engineering design process. Students work as a team to design entries for the KU High School Design Competition. The course also provides instruction in mechanical and electrical engineering, tool usage, Arduinos, wiring and mechanisms for robots. The honors level course includes more rigorous grading guidelines and advanced coursework.
