CMSD NEWS BUREAU

12/20/23

CMSD high school students are continuing to show off their robotic talents, as part of the Great Lakes Science Center Robotics Initiative. Collectively, six CMSD high schools, each made up of 30 students per robotic team, were able to describe and demonstrate their designs to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, who stopped by for a visit on Monday, December 18, and learned a few lessons during his stay.

Presenting their designs at MC² STEM, located inside the Rockwell Automation Robotics Lab, students spoke about their futuristic concepts and exhibited how they operate.  They also spoke about the importance of the FRC (First Robotics Competition) program and the impact it has had on their learning experience.   

“This program has unlocked opportunities for me to branch out into an engineering career path,” said Kyle Williams, student and publicity coordinator for MC²/Robmaniacs.  “I’m pretty sure I’m going to college to study Aerospace engineering now.” 

Through the FRC program, scholars are also developing and learning about soft skills, teamwork, and sportsmanship, as acquiring these skill sets is part of the competition.

The success of FRC in the District’s high schools continues to attract attention. This year, a team from Garrett Morgan School of Engineering and Innovation and the District’s first all-girls team were added to the FRC roster. Beginning next school year, 15 middle school teams will also be developed and allowed to participate in the FTC (First Tech Challenge).  The FTC will provide middle school students with a grade-level introduction to robotics and competition opportunities.

“Our students have the benefit of a great program,” says Chelsey Cook-Kohn, CMSD liaison for the First Robotics Competition. “We staff teachers that are licensed in Computer Science, we follow up with our students once they enter college, and they have access to paid summer internships because of our affiliation with the tech talent pipeline.”

In recognizing the success of FRC, it must also be acknowledged that little of this would be possible without the strong guidance of JonDarr Bradshaw, Community Engagement Coordinator at the Great Lakes Science Center.

“I am thrilled for the students to be able to meet the mayor,” says Bradshaw, “I’m excited for them to see that through this program, they are meeting important people, and the effort of their work is not going unnoticed.”

The Buckeye Regional robotics competition season will kick off on January 6^th, with over 180 CMSD students participating. Families with students who have an interest in the STEM fields, especially Computer Science, are encouraged to contact Chelsey Cook-Kohn at, Chelsey.Cook@ClevelandMetroSchools.org.

“This is not about building robots,” says Kohn, “but building stronger humans that can solve the problems of our world.”