MAN AND MACHINE
High school students show kids the wonders of science, technology, engineering, math
Groton — Robotics may seem an impenetrable concept, but for the Aluminum Falcons — a team of tech-savvy students from Fitch High School — it’s “their language.”
That’s how Ann Marie Hall, a team mentor and mother of two members, describes those who dedicate time after school to the robotics program. Saturday morning at Groton Public Library, the Falcons taught fourththrough eighth-graders their language.
The successful team — it has won several competitions, including the 2019 New England District Championship
— works to make the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields more accessible to children and adults alike. Members run a summer camp teaching kids how to design, program and control robots, for example.
On Saturday, the high school students ran a workshop, Beginner Robotics Mindstorm Programming, where they taught elementary and middle school students how to program a small robot to follow a line.
Students used iPads which then, using Bluetooth, connected to the robots. Aluminum Falcons, such as 18-year-old Connor Hall, who used to design the team’s competition robot on the computer and now makes the parts for the robot, was one of the team members who guided the kids’ efforts Saturday.
“This was something I was so in
vested in when I was a kid. I went to summer camp for it, so it’s almost like I’ve come full circle,” Hall said. “Seeing it click for them, and having them being able to do things on their own, is really cool to see.”
In another room, other Falcons offered general tech help to whoever asked for it. They even traversed the library to see if anyone needed assistance with their computers or phones or other questions.
A pamphlet at the event said the Aluminum Falcons comprises 40 students and 15 mentors. Adult mentors, such as Ann Marie Hall, keep students on track and organize events, and many of them work for Electric Boat and have kids on the team or who used to be on the team.
While the team spends the majority of its time planning for yearly competitions, the program is centered around community outreach, and, for members, friendship.
Junior Cierra O’Grady, the overall programming lead in charge of writing the instructions telling the robot what to do, has been organizing the Falcons’ programming team this year.
“I love that it teaches you a lot about technology, but it’s more than that,” O’Grady said, “it helps you become a better person, it helps you grow. It’s really a family community, not just a team.”
16-year-old Deidra Hall, an electrical mentor-intern, saw her brother obsess over robotics when she was growing up, and she decided to join the team when she was eligible.
“What made me stay is definitely the people on the team, we’re a lot like a family,” she said.
Senior Alyssa Solomon, a programmer, spends her time writing robot code. She summed up the sense of belonging among team members.
“It’s a family,” Solomon said. “I moved here, I was new, I didn’t have a lot of friends, I’m kind of nerdy and it’s super welcoming. We go to competitions together, we eat together, we do so much together.”
Following two separate workshops, the Falcons showed off last year’s competition robot, a tall contraption capable of a full range of movement and surprising speed. As Connor Hall presented, his sister Deidra showed a gathered crowd of about 20 how the robot could pick up and load items with ease. It was a moment of pride ahead of the 2020 competitions, which will require the team to program a robot for a completely different game than last year’s deep-spacethemed challenge.