Although younger than most of their competition, St. Mary’s team came out second overall in a field of 64 national and international teams, finishing sixth in the seeding round, first in double elimination, and scoring 100 percent in documentation.
Middle school and high school students from across the United States and from other countries compete in the tournament. This is the sixth year St. Mary has entered a team in the tournament, which just happened to be held this year on the nearby SIU-E campus. In previous years, the event was held in such places as Washington, D.C., and in Hawaii. St. Mary’s competed at both.
“We’re really proud of our kids,” said Peg Bodinet, St. Mary principal. “Our small St. Mary’s team did an amazing job this year. They did their homework and their robots were ready to run. The team really focused upon its documentation this year, and it paid off.
“When needed, Zack Bryant, one of our team members, was able to tweak his robot on site to step up to two days of double elimination competition, and we won every one of our matches.”
The St. Mary’s Robotics Club is open to sixth- through eighth-graders. It begins preparing for the next year’s competition in November, meeting for an hour once a week, usually on Saturday afternoons. Michael Lohrum, a St. Mary parishioner, is a robotics enthusiast who agreed to share his knowledge and expertise with this next generation of robotics enthusiasts. A faculty mentor and other adults assist with the club.
“Michael does this as a hobby,” said Bodinet. “He has just done a fabulous job with the students. They have learned so much. Robotics is a team approach; the students have learned they have to work together.”
St. Mary’s pastor for the last six years, Father Tom Meyer, as of July 1 now pastor at Our Saviour in Jacksonville, graduated from college with a degree in engineering before he entered the seminary. “It is impressive to see what they are learning at this age. Our students spent months designing, building and programming a robot,” Father Meyer said.
Everyone in the competition starts with a list of specific parts — 1,500 Lego pieces, 29 metal parts, 36 inches of paper and part of a robotic vacuum.
“The first program was brought to us by Jerry Weinbeck from SIU-E. They were looking for girls interested in math and science,” said Bodinet. One of the girls in that group is now entering college, and she plans to major in engineering.
“In this program students discover math and science can be fun for them. They see the potential in this; they start to think ‘What other things can I feel confident in doing?’ Even teachers have commented on how this confidence radiates over into other areas.”