From the moment students begin their first year at Trinity Hall, they are introduced to the student-centered, inquiry-based interdisciplinary approach that Trinity Hall takes when it comes to STEM. Throughout her time at Trinity Hall, each student will take four years of engineering and at least three years of math and science, with many students matriculating into AP classes in each discipline during their junior and senior years. Many students decide to dive deeper into STEM concepts in the extracurricular and co-curricular clubs that are offered at Trinity Hall, including the Math Club, Engineering Club, Coding Club, and Robotics. Over the last few years, the Robotics program has blossomed, building VEX robots, competing in tournaments and recruiting new members to join their team.
The Robotics co-curricular club allows students to create their own robotics designs that interact with the environment in complex ways. Students receive a foundation of robotics in their engineering classes, and the Robotics team applies their knowledge of the engineering design process, electronics, programming, and mechanics to craft a working robot. They explore, build, code, assess and improve their designs, made collaboratively or independently, to ensure maximum capabilities. Team members also learn how to use feedback from sensors, applied mathematics and measurement to program their robot to navigate distinct pathways.
Sophia Latourette ‘25 expressed, “Robotics is all about innovation! It’s all about taking what we have and improving it. I joined Robotics because I wanted to have an opportunity to work on a variety of hands-on projects, collaborating with other students to accomplish a task.”
Additionally, Virginia Avery ‘25 shares, “Robotics is about designing a competitive robot to compete in VEX competitions statewide. We design, build, code, and drive the robots ourselves. We even collaborate with other schools to test our robots before these bigger competitions.”
At these global events, students complete tasks within a game-based challenge. Teams work together to develop a robot capable of performing objectives like scoring objects, navigating obstacles, and interacting with other robots. The competition encourages creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork while focusing on engineering and programming skills. The 2024-25 competition game, High Stakes, includes stacking of game pieces and climbing a central tower. The team has been hard at work planning their design and building their robot to be able to climb this tower, a skill they will be able to practice with the new pieces of equipment they were able to add to their inventory this summer.
STEM teacher and faculty advisor Kali Lambrou, who works closely with STEM teacher and faculty advisor Nicole Sadowski, emphasizes “Successful preparation requires teamwork, iteration, and problem-solving to ensure the robot performs efficiently in high-pressure competition environments.” Students are looking forward to this event, as Latourette states, “Cheering on our drivers, strategizing, and having fun together are all things I am so excited for this year!”
Students of all grade-levels are encouraged to join the Robotics team as collaboration is essential to each part of the Robotics process. Senior Kasey Wilkens adds, “There are so many varying roles and skills that are involved with Robotics. We have multiple people taking on designing and building different parts of the robot. We have a team of students starting to code the robot and program its autonomous functions. There are also opportunities to explore strategy, like planning tactics for the competitions and physically driving the robot. You get that chance to problem solve and stay involved through our Robotics design and planning processes.”
Robotics provides students with unique opportunities to work collaboratively and see their hard work come to fruition in an exciting and competitive environment. Anyone who is interested in joining the team can reach out to student or faculty advisors for additional information. As Avery affirms, “The team is mainly student-run, with Mrs. Sadowski and Mrs. Lambrou there to help us. You don't need any experience to join; we learn all of our skills in-house.” The Trinity Hall community looks forward to cheering on the Robotics team in their competitions in the 2024-2025 school year.