A District 38 program is launching students into the world of engineering and robotics with real-world experiences. On Sept. 7 learners from Palmer Ridge High School, Lewis-Palmer High School and Lewis-Palmer Middle School gathered for a friendly competition at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) to put their hands-on STEM knowledge to the test and to explore work-based learning (WBL) opportunities.
The learning is made possible thanks to a partnership with Monumental Impact, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering technology, engineering and entrepreneurship. Monumental Impact’s programs, such as the FIRST Tech Challenge, help students develop both technical and leadership skills while preparing them for careers in STEM fields.
Participants on the districtwide team design, build and program robots for head-to-head competitions on a team that is operated like an engineering firm. Students must submit cover letters and résumés to apply for positions on their teams, mimicking real-world job application processes. Teams lead and offer products, services, and events to their broader community to raise funds, support others in STEM, and build skills. This professional structure helps students learn technical and soft skills like communication, project management and leadership.
The recent event was the first of the robotics club season, which kicked off with an INTO THE DEEP Game Reveal. The game challenge provided teams with detailed information about the season's objectives, which require teams to navigate an arena using robots they design to score points such as placing “specimens” on “chambers” on a “submersible” or in placing “samples” in “net baskets”—pushing students to innovate and collaborate.
In addition to building robots, students learn valuable workplace skills like how to guide and mentor teammates. "Gracious Professionalism means helping everybody out, no matter what, even your opponent. It’s about making sure everyone feels part of the fun and the family that FTC is,” said Alex Epstein, junior at Palmer Ridge High School.
"A team is great for bouncing ideas off one another. You get more ideas and avoid being in an echo chamber,” said Sam Hunt, sophomore at Lewis-Palmer High School.
For younger students like Alexandra Gonzalez, eighth grader at Lewis-Palmer Middle School, the experience has been equally transformative. "It definitely gets me out of the house and makes me work with different people," she shared. "Working with a team has helped me become more accepting of different solutions for problems."
Monumental Impact’s partnership with District 38 was originally formed to provide work-based learning experiences to high school students through internships in 2020. In 2021, an FTC program was offered and had enough students interested that 3 FTC teams were formed, now collectively called The MITEE Network.