Our guests are Angela Hattman, a fabulous Science Teacher at Upper Arlington High School and the fearless teacher who volunteered to help students start a robotics team, and Audrey Strickling, one of the high school students that helped found the UAHS FRC BearBots.

We talked with Andy Bruening and Tyler Hertenstein in episode six about the FIRST robotics program, which provides some context into the broader implications of these programs, but Angela and Audrey help us unbox what it means to not just start a team, but how doing so provides meaningful educational and life experiences for students.

We unbox:

• Why Angela and Audrey decided to start a robotics team
• How starting this team has impacted the entire school’s culture
• The financial implications of starting a robotics program
• The BearBots growing 3x between their first and second years
• How robotics programs help students make decisions, experience the world in new ways, and develop critical career skills
• What robotics students are looking for from their mentors
• Managing parents and parents’ expectations when you are starting a robotics team
• How a new robotics team is like running a new startup business
• What you should do first if you start a robotics team

Resources:

• See the FRC BearBots in action: https://twitter.com/uahsbearbots
• Start a FIRST Robotics Team: https://www.pastfoundation.org/start-a-first-robotics-team

Learning Unboxed is produced in part by Crate Media

Recorded by Eric French at WOSU Studios in Columbus, Ohio