Robotics team celebrates, gears up for new season

by Dylan Shumba

The Robotics team, 5933, has had a busy off-season. They were honored by the Utah Attorney General, hosted a STEM night for local elementary students, and participated in an informal competition at AMES last week.

The event at AMES was just for fun, according to Ms. McKown. New members of the team had a chance to actually drive robots. About 50 grade school students attended the STEM night in November, more than twice as many as last year.

A highlight for the team was on September 30, when they were invited to the Utah Capitol Building to be recognized by Attorney General Sean Reyes.

During the visit, the team heard stories from Reyes such as how his family came to the U.S. and how technology has impacted him. Reyes also spoke on how using technology for emergencies is faster in terms of finding a culprit or missing person vs. the standard procedure of what is used today.

The Bulldog Press interviewed robotics team members Andrew Hall, Erica Strand, and Jayee Limon on their experience of the Attorney General visit. We also hear from the Team mentors including Marci Hall, and Sonja McKown.

“It was really exciting to see that at a state level, we were being recognized for our accomplishments rather than just at a school level. And being the highest-ranking team from Utah is something to be really proud of. So it was just really fun to have that experience with someone in that level of government,” said team president Erica Strand.

Jayee Lim, junior and project manager said, “I think just being there with everyone in this almost surreal place when he took us to see the gold room was really cool because it’s an experience you don’t really get to see every day. You experience it with all your teammates, all the people you work with, people that you love, hate, and get stressed at and it’s a really great bonding experience.”

Mrs. McKown, team liaison also had her say on this question. “I really liked his story about where his family came from. I thought that was really interesting, especially today when we talk about migrants coming over and their value to our society, our culture, and our community. To realize that his father, who came over from the Philippines, became really important and his art is even in the Smithsonian today. So it was very American. And I appreciated that message. 

“And then also, I thought really important to drive home the values as we explore technology,” Mrs. McKown said.