What I’ve been up to these past many months

For the past 6 years, I’ve volunteered first as a coach and now as the coordinator of the Robotics program at the Grandview Heights Middle School.  The program starts every August and usually wraps around the second week of Jan.  This year, I’ve been the program coordinator and mentor/coach for 6 teams with almost 50 middle schools between 4th-8th grade.  It’s a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work.  If I had to guess, I probably spend close to 25 hours every week working with the kids as they prepare for the regional tournaments.  But it’s hard work that pays off.  Grandview has consistently sent teams to the Super Regionals and consistently is recognized for excellence in the 4 core awards (Robot Table, Robot Design, Core Values, and Project).

Saturday, our teams competed and the Grandview teams did a great job representing themselves.  We had two teams win awards and one of our coaches recognized with a coaching award.  In total, one team won the Robot Design Award (second year in a row a Grandview team has done that) and one of our teams won the Champions Award (finished first in the tournament).  It’s a long day, and the kids put in so much effort throughout the year, so it’s always gratifying to see them succeed.

For me, this program is a labor of love.  For 4 months out of the year, it makes things super busy.  But both of my kids have been through the program and it has been tremendously impactful to them.  And for so many other kids as well — as they transition to high school and beyond.  I often think about what I could be doing with my time, and what I can be doing to make my world a better place.  I try to keep that in mind at work and in my profession.  But there are few things that I can think of that have more of an impact than giving these kids this opportunity and positive experience.  For some, this is something that changes their outlook on science and stem.  For others, its a place to make new friends.  For all, it’s an opportunity to learn life lessons and grow.  Yes, it takes a lot of my time.  Yes, it takes a lot of time for the parents.  But as I tell people — if you want to change the world — focus on changing the world for a child.

–tr