SOUTH SUBURBAN STUDENTS WIN BIG AT COUNTY ROBOTICS COMPETITION

Students from Wilson Elementary in Chicago Heights recently won the Unit Six 4H STEMbot Challenge and will go on to the state competition in May. Photo Credit: Chicago Heights School District 170
Students from Wilson Elementary in Chicago Heights recently won the Unit Six 4H STEMbot Challenge and will go on to the state competition in May. Photo Credit: Chicago Heights School District 170

South Suburban Students Win Big At County Robotics Competition

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Several students from Chicago Heights School District 170’s Wilson Elementary School recently competed in the Unit Six 4H STEMbot Challenge at Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields. The students call themselves the Wilson Warriors and were tasked with building and programming a robot to solve real-life Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) problems.

The Wilson Warriors competed against robotics teams from several other schools in Cook County and were able to earn the championship title along with trophies in the categories of Robot Design and Programming.

With the leadership of their coach, Joseph Freiders, the Wilson Warriors designed, built, and programmed two Lego robots that were able to solve real-life STEM problems.

“I am so very proud of our team’s effort, and especially so because our team continues to build on past successes,” said Frieders. “Each year, at every competition, our team continues to impress everyone with their commitment and talent, and represents our district with dignity and outstanding behavior.”

Now that the team has taken home this win, they will go on to compete at the 2019 Illinois 4H STEMbot Challenge at the McLean County Fairgrounds’ Interstate Center in Bloomington, Illinois on May 11.

The Illinois State Robotics Competition gives young people who are enrolled in Illinois 4-H robotics programs the opportunity to compete and show what they have learned along with giving them a chance to interact with their state-wide peers. Many schools in Illinois have robotics clubs and this contest is meant to test their knowledge and their ability to work as a team, according to the Illinois 4-H State Robotics Competition’s website.

At the state competition, the Wilson Warriors will be asked to once again demonstrate their ability to design and program a robot that can accomplish tasks through the use of gears, levers, and other machine functions. They will be judged on their programming knowledge, their ability to work as a team, and their robot’s field performance.

Last year, the Wilson Warriors competed in the state competition and came in 15th place. This year, they are hoping to do better.

The robotics program is just one part of Illinois’ robust 4H curriculum which is designed to prepare young people to creatively solve our state’s problems by giving them the life skills and tools they will need to become innovators and entrepreneurs. At its core, 4H is an agriculture program but over time it has been expanded to better equip young people with needed workforce skills and to connect them with mentors, according to the Illinois 4H website.

Illinois 4H decided to focus on STEM for this year’s Robotics Challenge because careers in the STEM field are growing at a rapid rate and they want to prepare students with the knowledge and the skills they will need to compete for those jobs.

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