Robotics

Robotics is taught by Señor Ligotti.

Our 7th and 8th grade Robotics programs help spark the interest of our future engineers, who can use their creativity to build a robot and see it produce a defined result.  The students are split into both teams of four and paired teams, so teamwork is an important skill that is honed in this class.

Each team works together three days a week plus some Saturdays and some “zero period” sessions.  Participants in each grade create personalized team t-shirts that are worn to school and events and help foster a sense of team that is critical.  Within these teams, the students compete against each other and teams from other schools.

At the beginning of the school year, the teams participate in Robofest, in which students design, construct, and program the robots. Later, 8th graders compete in the FIRST Lego League, which is a national competition help at Justin Siena High School. St. Francis has done so well in this competition over the past several years that we have sent teams onto State semifinals in Sacramento.  In January, we begin working to compete in the International RoboGames. We participate in their Junior Division with twenty or so other schools.  We also compete at the Sonoma County Robotics Challenge.  This last meet is in May, and it is where we can showcase the skills we have been building all school year.  Combined, these competitions allow the team to create robots that can move, react, and solve challenges. They can be tough to say the least and push our creativity and “out-of-the-box” thinking to the limits, but students are always up for the challenge, which is great!  The program overall is a blast to be a part of for both students and moderators.