Wildcat robotics team stands up to the competition

Wildcat Robotics Coach Susan Schwarz celebrates with students Braden Crew, Alekzander Bajtka and Izy Ashbrook.

Wildcat News is a presentation of Walkerville Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

WALKERVILLE — Walkerville High School launched its first-ever robotics team ‎and is already gaining ground competitively.

The new Wildcat team finished 32nd out of 40 teams at its first competition at Orchard View High School the weekend of March 15 and 16. “This is great for our first time,” said Wildcat Coach Susan Schwarz, who is a  science and math teacher at Walkerville. 

“The kids learned a lot; had fun; and are going to compete again on March 29 and 30 at Kentwood,” said Schwarz.

“We were thrilled to win some matches, and we had a lot of help getting things fixed and working better on the robot so we expect to have some good matches in Kentwood. Some of the skills that our team gained were working with others as they planned strategy and talking to the judges. We saw some awesome robots built by teams that have been around a long time, so we are not expecting to be in the playoffs.”

Not only is the Wildcat team new, but it’s also young. Team members who competed were sophomores Braden Crew and Donivyn Girard and freshmen Izy Ashbrook and Alekzander Bajtka. The squad’s only junior Madysen Church-Nichols was not able to compete, said Schwarz. 

The new robotics program is already expanding. “I am hoping to start a middle school team next year, and we will have a robotics class that will give us time to learn more about the programming and mechanics of robotics. Another teacher at the school, Morgan Wansten, is excited to come on board to work with the kids also. We see how excited the kids are and how the program gives some good opportunities for the kids to learn and grow.

“We are already thinking about next year and will be starting to reach out for sponsors and more mentors.”

• Contributed photos

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