Lt. gov. is spectator as students test their skills with robot basketball during STEM Week

WORCESTER — Monday marked the start of the 5th Annual Massachusetts STEM Week and, as part of the kickoff, students from Burncoat High School gathered in the school gym to shoot some hoops — in a rather high-tech way.

The students were facing off against their rivals from the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and  initially it may not sound like something connected to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) until you hear that the kids were using robots in the game.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visited Burncoat High for a showcase of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics programs at the school as well as surrounding schools. While the program may be called FIRST, Worcester-area students are no strangers to robotics. Accompanied by their coaches, students from elementary to high school showed off their creations and how they fared in completing assigned challenges (such as launching balls through basketball hoops).

“Every year we build a brand new robot,” said Nicholas Galotti, Burncoat robotics coach, “and the goal is different every year.”

This year the assignment was to pick up a ball that was 9 inches in diameter and throw it vertically into a goal.

"That’s apparently the height of a basketball hoop,” he said as the red ball sailed through the net.

The Burncoat team, dubbed the Green Reapers, started work on their robot in January, as did their opponents at Mass Academy.

“We’re both assigned to do the exact same thing but we go about it in two completely different ways,” explained Galotti.

While the two teams are technically competing, he emphasized the true goal is fun and innovation, with the question of winning or losing a distant second.

“Once they hear that it doesn’t matter if we win, we just have fun and learn, they suddenly get more into it and do better,” said Galotti.

“Robotics has really given me the opportunity to experiment with things I like,” said David Barsoum, a junior at Mass Academy. “Part of being on FIRST robotics is being able to create these beautiful machines and solve problems, and just the gratification from that is enough.”

“It doesn’t take long to put together a robot. It does take a long time to put together a great robot,” Greg Jones, robotics coach from South High School, said.

About STEM week

STEM week is a statewide initiative to promote interest in and awareness of opportunities in STEM among students, particularly underrepresented demographics such as women, students of color and other minorities. Various educational organizations receive state grants to pursue this goal including the local branch of FIRST Robotics.

“We have done a lot of work with WPI and FIRST Robotics,” said Polito, going on to say that the two have in turn developed close ties with schools throughout Central Massachusetts. “We’re grateful for their partnership so we wanted to come back today and see how far they’ve progressed and they’ve done a great job.”

Robotics teaches students more than engineering and coding, but also valuable skills for the rest of their education and beyond school as well, according to Jones, who also teaches physics. “The biggest issue for kids is communication. We get brilliant students who come in but they don’t necessarily know how to communicate with each other very well.”

Excelling in AP courses is a solo effort, Jones explained, as opposed to being part of a team, so working together to achieve a common product can be a challenge.

“When they come into robotics, we force them to be together,” said Jones. “You can’t build a robot all by yourself. You need to have different people with different strengths.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Robots shooting hoops? Students test their skills during STEM Week