The front page of the Times on Monday, Feb. 13, struck me for a number of reasons. My attention was first caught by the terrific story featuring the accomplishments of the RoboCavs robotics team from South Carroll High School. I was at the event that day, and have been following and supporting them for years. I was also pleased with the front-page coverage of the FIRST LEGO League competition in January at St. John's Catholic School, an event I have run for the past seven years in various locations. I am pleased to see such positive coverage of a program that challenges students of all ages to solve problems, apply lessons from their classes, and work together as a team. Indeed, after such great publicity, I expect to get more queries from parents soon.

One need look no further than the other front-page story on Feb 13, "Boys and Girls Club gets $15,000" to understand why participation in robotics is limited. We all rely on donations from corporations and volunteers. Boys and Girls Clubs and robotics teams are examples of community organizations filling the need for opportunities to learn outside of school. We hear debate about the cost of new buildings to house career and technology programs, but lose sight of the fact that it is what goes into those buildings that matters. We have physical structures and seats in classrooms, but students look outside schools to learn critical skills and to apply math and science, to innovations and think critically.

Every week, I hear from a parent who wants to find a robotics team, or a course in programming or electronics for their child. Many expect to find these opportunities at schools. Outside of a small handful, including South Carroll, they find none. After-school robotics programs are not, and have never been, directly supported by CCPS. A staff member must volunteer and the students must raise the funds for materials, registration fees, etc. There are more than a dozen teams meeting at homes around the county because parents volunteer their own time; few in schools. To change this, more adults can 1) volunteer, 2) lobby the State of Maryland to provide the funds identified last year to support after-school robotics programs and 3) remind our local representatives that what happens inside school buildings is just as important as how many students are in seats.

Rose Young

Woodbine

The writer is the director of PIE3; lead mentor of the FIRST Robotics Team 2199, the Robo-Lions; and a science and PLTW teacher and FTC mentor at Glenelg County School.

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Letter: More resources needed for robotics in Carroll - Carroll County Times