Bainbridge High School’s Spartronics Robotics Team will hosts its 8th annual Open House May 19 from 6-8 p.m. via Zoom.
The event will include footage of the new Career and Technical Education building, robotics room and work areas. A maximum of 300 people will be able to attend; register online at Spartronics4915.com.
Spartronics, a student-led FIRST Robotics Team, will showcase the challenges the 50-member team with 17 professional mentors participated in since January.
“While for the first time we did not build a new robot this season because of the (COVID-19) pandemic, I think
everyone will be impressed to see what our team had been up to this year,” said Spartronics coach Enrique Chee, BHS Science Department chair, who teaches physics and robotics.
The virtual Open House is a student-run event, said Jessica Rosenfeld, a team co-captain for next season who heads up the Business and Marketing group for Spartronics. “You can ask students questions and will see first-hand the projects we have all been working on. We may not have competed against other robots this year, but our team still learned an enormous amount while still having fun despite all the challenges of the past year,” she said.
The goal of the program is to inspire student interest in science, technology, engineering and math. It has a graduation rate of nearly 100% from its inception, and more than 90% of its alumni attend college.
The team must raise funds annually typically to build two 100+ pound robots (one for competition and an identical one for driver practice), register and compete in competitions. Fundraising also covers
travel expenses for matches, provides tools, supplies and equipment, provides a shirt to every team member, creates marketing and informational materials, and performs extensive community outreach
and programming.
Some two-thirds of the team’s funding comes from 28 local businesses and contributions by family and community support directed to Spartronics through the Bainbridge Schools Foundation.
For more go to Spartronics4915.com.
