[Al Skierkiewicz]

Wildstang has had a yearly program for many years. During the fall sessions, students are introduced to all aspects of the team with regular Monday night classes. We meet for general announcements at 5:30 and when that session is through we break into smaller groups. The groups are taught robot fundamentals such as electrical theory and how motors work, Ohm's Law and how it relates to voltage drop in wire. We spend some time on PWM and how the speed controllers work. Other classes teach mechanical background, torque, speed and mechanical advantage, gear ratios etc. Still others teach support fundamentals, animation, web design, graphics and communications. All of these fundamentals are then put to use when the students must participate in a mini competition in December. They are grouped into teams of 6-8, and are required to make a web page, team name (using "Wild" in the name) build a robot to meet game requirements. (This year we used Lego Mindstorms for the first time and are planning on following the FLL rules for next year since so many of our students came from and mentor FLL teams.) This class is for credit and attendance, participation and performance in assigned tasks are used for grade. When January rolls around, all students are then working on sub-teams performing tasks that they learned throughout the fall session. Then the participation and level of involvement not only determines grade but also travel teams. We have about 80 students this year but can only travel 35 to nationals, about 15 to Eastern Mich, and since the Midwest regional is right in the neighborhood, everyone gets to go.
I should add that this structure was something pursued by the students, working with the school board many years ago. The school board, thankfully, has been very supportive of their efforts and regularly attend events and the Midwest Regional.