Upper St. Clair Twp. revitalizing robotics programs

Upper St. Clair robotics programs are being revitalized and have seen unprecedented interest from students this year. Under the leadership of Tracy Smith, a physics and robotics teacher at the district, after-school robotics teams have formed and are growing at Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools and Upper St. Clair High School.

In an article in The Almanac, Smith summed up her goals: “I am doing my best, through various means, to make sure that Upper St Clair School District not only has diverse STEAM opportunities to participate in,” she continued, “but also to demonstrate to students how skill sets using innovation and technology can transfer to all future careers.”

This past school year three FIRST Tech Challenge teams were formed at the high school, four FIRST Lego League Challenge teams started at Fort Couch Middle School, and four FIRST Lego League Challenge teams-in-training came together at Boyce Middle School. The district has also planned to offer a club for student who are interested but didn’t get to be on a team yet.

In addition to learning teamwork and robotics skills as they design, build, program and operate robots for competition, the teams also benefit from presentations at the school by community members who are working in the field.