November 20, 2024
Wolfpack Machina, Waring’s award-winning robotics team, took the top prize at the First Tech Challenge World Championships in 2023. The Inspire Award brought with it much international acclaim on top of previous multiple state championships. These awards rightfully spotlight the team’s dedication, hard work and passion for designing, building and coding their robotics; beyond this, Waring’s teams have excelled due to a broader skill set that comes from Waring’s liberal arts education, including their teamwork and collaboration, ability to be articulate with their written and spoken voice, and their outreach in bringing their know-how to other schools and teams around the world.
In essence, Waring roboticists have both the technical chops and, perhaps more importantly, the ability to work and communicate thoughtfully and generatively as life-long learners across multiple disciplines. The prestigious awards and accolades are all very well deserved; however, what goes on after the awards have been given and when no one is watching is the real story.
The story of the Waring Robotics team is one of service and working together for the common good. It is a story of outreach to communities near and far where resources for a robotics program are scarce. Long after the competition is over, many of the Waring Robotics team members use the mission of the school as their guide to “teach the teachers” of fledgling robotics programs the basics of hosting a robotics program at their respective schools.
In the minds of many Waring students, it’s not enough for them to understand the intricacies of robotics and what it takes to bring a team to the world championships successfully. They want other schools and students to find similar joy and passion they have found in the robotics labs. Unfortunately, there is a lack of resources and mentors for even well-intentioned teachers to host robotics programs in many underserved communities.
To support educational equity and instill the enthusiasm many of our students have for the robotics field, members of the Waring Robotics team have traveled near and far to inspire other students and help create robotics programs logistically and financially.
Global Robotics OutreachOver the past several years, Waring students have helped establish and run the FIRST LEGO League teams in Rwanda and assisted in the running of the Rwandan FLL National Championships.
In 2022-2023 and again in 2023-2024, Amelia W., Waring Class of 2023, spent significant amounts of time establishing First Lego League teams in Rwanda. On her first visit to the African country, she established 35 FLL teams. On her second trip that number expanded to 100 teams!
During her time in Rwanda, Amelia presented to over 100 schools, hosted 2 mentoring sessions for 30 coaches and partnered with TEACH Rwanda and STELA to ensure that after she left the program and teams would continue to be supported. In addition to securing donations of robotics equipment, Amelia also raised $25,000 to sustain the program with materials. She even started her own nonprofit at age 18 to support her goal of bringing robotics to students in Rwanda. Part of her efforts included securing robot kits that were donated by Codernia.
Two of her Wolfpack teammates, Alma P. and Owen C., took a gap year like Amelia, and joined her in this effort, spending the majority of 2023-2024 in Rwanda teaching at schools all over the country, training coaches, and running events. Most important, however, was the fact that they worked together to found an organization, called STEM Inspires, that continues their work now that all three of them have started college. They spent the year working with local organizations, the Rwandan government, and other Africa-based organizations, such as Coderina, to find a program that will long outlive their immediate involvement.
In June 2024, Harrison ‘28 and Oliver ‘26, members of Waring’s Lupine Robotics and Wolfpack Machina teams respectively, taught students in New Zealand about LEGO Robotics with great success. They chose the City of Dunedin in Southern New Zealand, where there were no FIRST LEGO League teams. Not only did the duo teach 70 students at three different schools how to build a robot, they also explained how to code in Scratch and how to use sensors to make the robot understand the surrounding environment. They spent weeks planning the curriculum and gathering the materials including 9 robot kits and 9 Chromebooks for additional attachments. From planning to execution of the trip, the Waring students were inspired to spread their knowledge of robotics to students who may never have experienced a robotics course.
Harrison has now returned to New Zealand to help some of the schools he worked with in June 2024 find FLL teams that can compete in New Zealand. He is spending several months meeting with these teams on an almost daily basis in order to help them create a viable program.
Waring Robotics team members have also made positive impacts closer to home, including establishing a robotics program right down the street from Waring in Beverly, Massachusetts.
Right down the street, at the Centerville Elementary School in Beverly, Massachusetts, you will also find the positive impacts of Waring Robotics team members. Seven years ago, Waring’s high school robotics teams began working with the 3rd and 4th graders at Centerville Elementary School. During the 8-session robotics course, the elementary students learn about robotics, coding, and what the FLL competitions are all about. Not only does this help foster a strong connection to other students and schools within Beverly but also provides a robotics experience to students who might not otherwise get this opportunity. This program is currently ongoing and is led by Paolo Calderaro, Waring Class of 2025. Each week members of Wolfpack Machina travel to Centerville and share their knowledge and passion for robotics, living out their commitment to fostering equal access to robotics.
To learn more about the Waring Robotics Program and the ongoing outreach led by our students and faculty, please visit our robotics page on our website.
