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For 3 years now, the AHS Robotics club has had a new coach, Alex Bove, a well-esteemed physics instructor and a student-favorite teacher. Alongside the help of Mr. Bove, the club operates smoothly because of its members.
The team meets twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and each meeting fosters community and collaboration.
From both the coach and the team member perspective, there is an emphasized importance on teamwork, which is a club value.
“The biggest thing they have is that they're open to ideas, they have very open minds. Everybody listens, everybody works together,” Bove said.
The AHS Robotics club is currently working on three robots, where they use the engineering design—research, plan, build, test, and improve—to create multiple versions of projects needed for competitions. As Bove said, the open-mindedness of the team equips each member with the motivation to contribute to projects.
For the majority of the team members, robotics or engineering isn’t an exact future aspiration, but rather a passion and a side hobby.
“I’ve always been interested in science and STEM, so even though I’m not going into engineering, I'm still really passionate about engineering and physics,” Shiloh Farrel (12) said.
Being able to continue a passion has allowed members like Farrel to continue doing what he loves, while simultaneously pursuing his desired major of Biology, on the pre-med track.
Additionally, for members like TJ Dunn (12), robotics has helped fine-tune future careers.
“Robotics is pretty different from what I’m passionate about. However, robotics helped tune the idea of majoring in finance and statistics at Northwestern,” Dunn said.
The ability for students to learn early on what they like and what they don’t like helps them later on with saving tuition and gaining exposure to each potential field. Especially, with STEM-based careers being competitive and high-paying opportunities like robotics clubs, students can solidify their aspirations and accumulate experience in the respective field.
The team has a genuine connection with one another that helps promote a respectful, hardworking, and inclusive environment. Yearly, students from 9th to 12th grade are encouraged to join the force and contribute to the collaborative space while gaining intangible and tangible skills.
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