Since the inception of the Robotics Program in 2011, it has been full STEAM ahead for our students. New Brunswick Middle School was where this program began thanks to NBEF who partnered with Bristol-Myers Squibb to sponsor the Robotics Program in the New Brunswick Public Schools. This program started off small, focusing on engaging underserved youth in hands-on and inquiry-based afterschool and summer enrichment experiences using the latest generation of LEGO Mindstorm Robotics. The purpose of this project was to expose New Brunswick Public School students (primarily Hispanic and African-American) to various aspects of science, technology, engineering, art and math disciplines and increase their interest in pursuing healthcare and other STEAM-related fields.
Due to the implementation of this program; the interest in STEAM-based learning exploded which led to creating a Robotics and Coding Curriculum at NBMS. These classes were then added as electives that students could enroll in during their regular school year. Based on the popularity of the Robotics and Coding education programs; our after-school Robotics program grew tremendously. This provided the opportunity for students to continue their education in a STEAM environment working side-by-side with their teammates and Coaches.
The robotics students’ have developed leadership and critical thinking skills and learned the importance of teamwork, collaboration, professionalism, and problem-solving skills through hands-on project based education. The students that participate in the Robotics program become enthusiastic and engaged in their various problem-solving project-based tasks. Throughout the process, students exemplify pride, confidence and determination as they work together striving to achieve success.
With the yearly support of NBEF this impressive program has taken New Brunswick Middle School from being recognized in the First Lego League (FLL) competitions as a multi-award-winning Robotics Team resulting in high achievements, including being honored with the “Judges Award” [2013]; “Judges Award” [2014]; “Presentations Award” [2016]; “Core Values Award” [2017]; “Robot Design Award” [2018]; and the “Project Innovation Award” [2019].
The Robotics competition is a meaningful, collaborative, professional, and exciting experience that our New Brunswick Middle school students engage in each school year. In 2021, due to the Pandemic NBMS decided to change from the in-person competition with FLL to CoderZ League — Virtual Cyber Robotics Competition. The program still met after school as a team with their coaches; the only difference was that the playing field changed from in-person to virtual [online] competitions.
Coderz League offers THE VIRTUAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION. Students form teams of 1-6 memebrs. There are three different levels of competition in this virtual event:
- The Novice Division is a great introduction to STEAM for students with no previous experience with robotics and coding
- The Junior Division is an opportunity for students to engage with different sensors, “what if” programming statements, and programming loops while competing in increasingly challenging games.
- The Pro division is a great place for students to enjoy creating complex solutions involving several sensors and system coordination coding for the robot to perform various functions in fun and challenging missions.
The time frame was from September through January. Recruitment and registration of each team was done in September. The 2021-2022 school year was our first year to participate in a virtual robotics competition. Our virtual teams reached the playoffs, placing in the top 16. In order to continue to foster the same opportunities that the students have come to enjoy through working collaboratively and professionally with both other students and coaches alike, we again participated in the CoderZ League — Virtual Cyber Robotics Competition during the 2022-2023 school year. Once again, our virtual teams reached the playoffs, placing in the top 16. The core values and dedication, as well as the development and the incorporation of STEAM related activities proves to provide our students with the desire and love of learning.
This school year 2023-2024 we continued to participate in the Coderz Virtual Robotics Competition with NBEF’s steadfast sponsorship which has played a pivotal role in our journey, providing us the confidence and support of our continued participation in the world of innovation driving our students to exceed their own expectations. Early on during this year’s Virtual competition our students “rocked it!” and passed the preliminary stage and went on to compete in the “Group Stage”. The Dream Team’s achievement for CoderZ League Junior 2023 in the Group Stage was Final Team Rank of the top 64. The White Wolves achievement in the preliminaries of the CoderZ League was the final team rank of top 24. One of our teams made it to the Playoffs match between “Gold Warriors” NBMS and “Spicy Quadruple Atoms” Jersey City Public Schools. The match was extremely successful, but very close: “Gold Warriors” scored 410 points; the “Spicy Quadruple Atoms” scored 430 points.
Thanks to NBEF, the program has incorporated additional STEAM-based activities with our Robotics after school program that began in January 2024 once the CoderZ competition ended. These activities continue to stretch the student’s imaginations far beyond the scope of the competition. Such hands-on activities include Electrical Circuits using “Snap Circuits”; Programming with Sphero Mini and Sphero RVR Robots; as well as Micro:bit controllers.
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