Willow Glen Resident

Education

Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Mechanics 101: Presentation High School junior Elizabeth Magana of Willow Glen and her science teacher and robotics coach Jordan Wang show off the team's robot that was entered into the San Jose regional For Inspiration and Recognition Science and Technology robotics event.

Robotics program kicks into high gear at Presentation

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

Making robots is something Presentation High School students Desiree Tran, Elizabeth Magana and Torie Gonsalves do well.

The three students are part of a 33-member robotics team was a first for the high school, which competed at the San Jose regional For Inspiration and Recognition Science and Technology robotics event.

The competition included 50 schools from Northern California, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Nevada, Washington, Massachusetts and Canada.

Although the young women made a splash at the event, being one of only seven all-girl teams present, first place was just out of reach. But the team, the Presentation Invasion, did not walk away empty-handed. The girls earned the Rookie Award.

Not bad considering the robotics program is only in its second year, says Presentation High School science teacher and robotics coach Jordan Wang.

"Some of these girls had never picked up a screwdriver before," Willow Glen resident Wang says. "It was a huge learning curve."

He says that along with the general mechanics and engineering aspects of the project, the young women were starting from scratch when it came to the nuts and bolts.

"They had to learn which tool was appropriate for the job," he says. "The girls had to think about the process--things they take for granted, like how many screws it would take to build it and what would move the claws."

Although the process required a detail-oriented focus, the students caught on quickly.

"The girls were great," he says. "The level of commitment and devotion to the project came out."

The robotics program at the school is made up of sophomores, juniors and seniors, but the seniors were in the minority. Wang says that's not so bad, because it will enable the younger students to develop their skills for future competitions.

The goal of this particular team is to get students genuinely interested in engineering and science, he says.

"We want them to see engineering at work in their own schools and be competitive," Wang says.

Most of the students on the team had already demonstrated an interest in the field.

"When I was young, I used to watch battle bots," says Desiree, a senior. "It was kind of violent but cool. I wanted to know how they worked."

Desiree wanted to be part of the team from the get-go, but her homework load in 2006 was too intense. She wasn't able to join the team until this year.

She was part of the marketing group of the robotics team and in charge of finding sponsors, such as Google and Kiwanis International.

She was also the group's mascot at the competition.

Elizabeth, a Willow Glen resident and junior, is interested in engineering.

"Being part of the robotics team is good, because I get to see what it would be like," Elizabeth says.

At first, she was intimidated, but once she became involved she discovered it was fun.

"I was on the build team for the chassis," she says. "We did the basic building and finished earlier than the rest of the groups so we helped them finish the building and integrating of all the parts."

For Torie, a junior, working with her hands was always something she wanted to do.

The biggest thing the girls learned, however, had nothing to do with motors and gears. The students worked every day after school from 3 to 7 p.m. and on weekends until the event.

"We learned about dedication and time management," Torie says.