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Team 254 "The Cheesy Poofs" from Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, Calif. received the High School Excellence Award at the 2011 VEX Robotics Competition World Championships. Photo credit: Steven Rainwater 
Last year the young winners of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology) Robotics Championship went to the White House and shook President Obama's hand -- just like the winners of the NCAA basketball tournament do. We should make a practice of giving our math and science stars the same level of recognition we award our sports stars. It could be a key component of attracting students to the sciences and graduating the kind of talented adults companies around the world want to hire.I saw why this past week at the VEX Robotics Championships in Orlando. Both VEX and FIRST do something you might not expect of a robotics contest: they cultivate teamwork and the kind of social skills that turn smart kids into bona fide leaders. The only difference between robotics stars and sports stars, it turns out, is that the careers of robotics champions don't have a shelf life.
The secret sauce of robotics competitions -- VEX and FIRST are just two of several in the U.S. -- is relevance. The teams are given a real-world goal: to raise money and build a robot of their own design that can go head to head with other teams' robots to complete a series of complicated tasks. It's hands-on, project-based learning, which is precisely the kind of approach that transforms math and science from intimidating subjects to engaging fun.
What's more is that in an increasingly virtual world, robotics contests force kids to work together face to face and develop the kind of communications skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. When companies like Lockheed Martin are weeding through 1,000 resumes for a single opening, it's the candidate who can make presentations to management who gets the job offer.
Kids dream of being sports heroes; organizations like VEX and FIRST are giving them reasons to dream of being science and technology leaders. Competition and recognition might be exactly what kids need to feel that pull to exercise -- their minds.
This past weekend, Westlake High School Robotics competed at BEST World Championships at the VEX World Championships. Many of the teams competing there compete in FIRST robotics as well along with us.
Cheesy Poofs, Thunderchickens, AusTIN Cans, Simbotics, LASA, DiscoBots and RoboWranglers are ones that come to mind right off hand. All of these teams have inspired me as an educator and robotics coach. Each of these teams competes on a very high level and have for many years.
I coach high school athletics for 17 years and enjoyed each of those years. Many of these included coaching multiple sports at the middle school as well as junior varsity and varsity levels. As I enjoy watching the Spurs in a playoff basketball game tonight, I watch and listen to the excitement of the fans at the arena. This past weekend at ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, I experienced the same excitement as teams from all over the world competed at the VEX World and BEST World Championships.
Each time I go to a contest, I am amazed at the robots that are present at these contests. Students work along professional coaches (mentors) to evaluate, prototype and build a robot to meet the requirements of the contest.
Students take away more than just participating in a contest. The robot and competition is the hook to get them excited but there is more important aspects to these contests. Students get excited at these contests as an athletic event but they also get to experience the same thrill of excitement and agony of defeat as Wide World of Sports said for so many years on the commercials. The air eventually leaks out of the ball for nearly all athletes, but the students on these teams are in this for life. NO EXPIRATION DATE on their participation in related activities.
Students work together hand in hand with each other to solve the problems with the assistance of professional mentors to guide them along the way. Students learn from professionals how to problem solve and communicate with each other.
As the article says " Competition and recognition might be exactly what kids need to feel that pull to exercise -- their minds."
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