First-year competitor Alysa Arthur is learning how to code with robots and she loves it.

Alysa is one of six students that make up the Junior Jackets Robotics Team at Wilson Middle School in Council Bluffs.

Coding is my favorite because when you code something you first see it on a computer and that makes the robot go somewhere else and you get to see what it does, Arthur said. I like that.

Her mom, Christy Arthur, spearheaded the first-year program, after she saw first-hand the opportunities her son, Seth, had on the robotics team at the high school level. (Alysa and Seths father is school board president Troy Arthur.)

It totally reshaped his world, she said. So I wanted to make sure these kids had it too.

When she first started working to bring the program to the middle school last year, Christy Arthur said there wasnt any funding available, so she and parent Matt Koletzke self-funded the program to get it off the ground.

Then additional support came their way after Thomas Jefferson High School robotics coach James Crum gave a spare robotics kit to the program. Christy Arthur and Koletzke then bought the additional tools needed to get started and asked T.J. computer science technology teacher Denise Hoag to sponsor the program.

Hoag agreed, joining the team last October.

Being its the first year, we are helping each other along the way, Hoag said. We learned how to pull out the rules and manual to learn specifically what we needed to accomplish for the judges. I keep telling them they paved the way, making it a little easier for those who want to join next year.

Today, six students comprise the program with students being split into two teams of three students each. Seventh-grader Alysa (seventh-grade) along with eighth-graders Chase Koletzke and Brandon Whitsel make up team 2501W. Sixth-graders Toby Mass, Blake Whitsel and Gracie Clark make up team 2501X.

The students meet twice a week after school learning science, technology, engineering and math concepts through hands-on robotic activities in their free time.

Theyre learning engineering skills with gears, motors and controllers and how they all go together to complete the task required for competition, Hoag said. They also have to program the robot to move autonomously, so they learn programming skills too.

While the students learn different STEM skills by interacting hands-on with robots, they also learn research and documentation skills through different projects provided by VEX, a company involved in middle and high schools across the country that helps students expand their understanding of STEM through robotics.

One program recently included completing a project related to robots in the community. Students visited Fox Run Assisted Living in Council Bluffs to demonstrate robotic pets, and the students received a huge response, Hoag said.

We held a spaghetti feed to fund raise and ended up purchasing four robotic companion pets to give them, Hoag added.

Having competed in three competitions so far this school year, the students continue to impress judges, earning top honors wherever they go. So far, the team has earned three top awards including an excellence, design and STEM award.

Most importantly, they learn how to work on a team, Hoag said. They learn how to collaborate and come up with ideas and try them out and see which one works the best,

On April 4, the team will head to the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs to compete at the U.S. Open Robotics Championship. Then team 2501W will head to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete against hundreds of other students in the VEX Worlds competition beginning April 24.

Its amazing how much theyve grown and learned in a small amount of time, Hoag said. To take the program from brand new and now going to the Worlds Championship demonstrates a great amount growth and learning.

While the program has since received funding from the AIM Institute to continue operating, the students dont have the funds needed to attend the Kentucky competition, which was described by one parent as the equivalent of making it to the Olympics.

So Christy Arthur is also spearheading a number of different fundraising efforts. On April 12, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Buffalo Wild Wings, located in the Metro Crossing Shopping Center, will host the team and donate 10 percent of sales when anyone that dines in mentions the fundraiser.

There will also be a bake sale today from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Legislative Coffee held at Wilson Middle School. Those interested in donating, can also do so through the teams Go Fund Me account at gofundme.com/jrjackets2501.

Alysa Arthur said she will most likely continue to stay involved with robotics through college. Even though shell eventually leave Wilson, her mom plans on staying involved with the program.

Ill be working with the elementary schools to further this down, Christy Arthur said. For me, its not just robotics, it teaches STEM, teamwork, collaboration, research and documentation and a lot of honor through design. I think its a great program and it should be at every school, I started here and Im going to keep pushing until everyone sees the value I do.

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First-year Wilson robotics team kicks it into gear, continues to succeed - The Daily Nonpareil