Hands-on learning: Local robotics teams find applications for lessons they learn in class

Auggie Knutson is a born tinkerer, which is probably why he carried a tool belt wherever he went as a little boy.

Now a junior at Chaffee, Missouri, High School, Knutson has taken his innate ability and channeled it into his class work in the Chaffee Industrial Arts & Technology program.

"It's what I like to do -- making things work," he said.

He and his classmates have made lots of things work lately, especially within the three robotics teams they've formed to flex their mechanical muscles.

Members of the high school's Semper Fi, Furious George and Girls With Attitude groups all have performed well this year at local, state and regional competitions.

Chaffee High School robotics team members Hannah Seyer and Paige Tucker work on a winch at the Arkansas State Robotics Tournament in December.Submitted photo

Senior Hannah Seyer is part of Girls With Attitude, which will be competing April 27 to 30 at the First World Championship in St. Louis after progressing through several previous qualifiers, including a mid-March super-regional event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Seyer said she found her way into the robotics program after discovering how much she liked to build things.

"This is my third year," she said.

Jaron McMurry, the students' instructor and Technology Student Association adviser, said students' skills range from the more artistic to the more technical, but everyone can share expertise to make the group stronger.

One thing the program does is give the students practical applications for the math they've learned in other classes.

Chaffee High School robotics team member Hannah Seyer works on her robot in the pits at the FRC Regional event in March at the Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. (submitted photo)

Once they use the concepts and formulas in constructing parts or whole projects, things begin to make more sense.

Then, as they continue learning, they can use those skills during competitions.

"Each year, the game changes, and they can't use the same (technique) the next year," McMurry said.

Typically, a course is set up at the different tournaments and the students must lead their robots through a series of challenges that test how well built and functional they are.

Another area school with a team heading to the world championship is Scott City High School.

Of the school's three teams -- The Other Guys, The Robo Rams and The Kilobytes -- The Other Guys will be traveling to St. Louis soon as well.

That means they, like the girls from Chaffee, will be going head to head with 127 robotics teams from 16 countries after advancing through all the previous qualifying events.

And it's been a long, but fun, haul.

"I would hate to guess how many hours they've spent working on the robot," said Randy Shinn, who teaches in the gifted program at Scott City.

It was especially exciting when the team racked up enough points in Cedar Rapids to advance to the world championship event this month.

"They and two alliance partners beat out 72 other teams," he said.

The Leopold Gearheads in the Leopold R-III School District also have been performing well this year.

Julia Horrell, the team's sponsor, said their work got them all the way to the super regional competition.

"We did not advance beyond that level, but played really well," she said. "That was our first time at the super regional."

Although Leopold High School only has 46 students, 30 are on the robotics team and just about everyone has a soft spot for Sparky, the team's robot.

"Our students really love the program. Over the past few years, it has gained in popularity," Horrell wrote in an email. "We have about a 70 percent involvement rate with our high-school students."

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

Chaffee High School, 517 W. Yoakum Ave., Chaffee, Mo.

Scott City High School, 3000 Main St., Scott City, Mo.

Leopold High School, 1000 W. Main St., Leopold, Mo.