JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Middle and elementary students battled it out Saturday morning in the first ever ‘Communities In Schools of Jacksonville’ robotics competition.
"Our robot is a small little thing, it has the poker and the bulldozer, small little design, but it should work out well," said Cayden Martin, a 7th grade team leader.
Cayden Martin dreams of attending Boston University for computer programming. He is the team leader for “RaiderBots’ a group of middle school students competing for the best robot during this competition.
“It’s a fun hobby, it’s really useful if you’re going into something like programming, computer programming or even want to do something like Bot fighting," Martin said.
Six teams of Communities In Schools of Jacksonville students competed. The theme of the competition was solar power and students were tasked with building a robot out of Legos that harnesses the power of the sun.
Communities In Schools of Jacksonville is a local nonprofit that supports undeserved students with after school programs, case management, tutoring and more. This was the first year CIS hosted the event, which was sponsored by STEM2HUB, an organization that works with local schools to inspire and invest in the STEM2 field.
Most of these students have faced serious challenges, from hunger to homelessness, and leaders say this free program provides exposure to coding and technology that students may not find elsewhere.
“One thing we want the kids to get exposed to is STEM activities, STEAM activities and just being forceful with the world," Byran Jones, the director of After School programs at CIS, said. "Technology is becoming more important there’s battery operated cars, solar power, you got to understand how these things work and again the world is growing in a more engineering form of mind.
Robots were judged on their ability to do simple tasks like pick up a ball or follow a course. But in between judging there was plenty of time for laughs, and even some dancing.
“Really working around with the team was really good, having fun with the team members just getting to know everybody," Martin said.
Only one team will move on to the regional competition later this month.