DHS Robotics

When thinking about the daily curriculum of high school students, most would imagine the usual subjects like math, science and reading, etc. What few, if any, would envision is designing, building and competing with robots. However, this semester at Denmark High School, a select group of students are doing just that in the new robotics class. This week, The Denmark News visited the class to learn more about this unconventional educational initiative as well as its benefits to students.

The new robotics class is led by Denmark High School math teacher Drew Gossens. Gossens explained the robotics team got its start last year during his first year with the district. While last year the team was just an after school club, this year it is an official class allowing students to focus on their projects for 90 minutes every school day. Gossens says while this is the third district he has helped lead robotics at, this is the first that he has been able to integrate it into the school schedule which has already shown immense benefits. Gossens, along with technology education teacher Brennen Mickelson, serve as advisors for the group providing guidance and expertise.

The new robotics class is made up of nine students who compete as three separate teams in their three events this year. The after school robotics club has two additional teams that will compete in one event this year. When it comes to educational robotics, it turns out there are a number of options for educators to utilize. The Denmark Robotics Teams compete using the VEX Robotics system, one of the most popular in the world. The robots start as boxes of parts that can be combined in an infinite number of ways to create what Gossens calls "erector sets on steroids". At the end of each year, the robots are disassembled and the parts reused for new creations.

Using the provided parts, students must design, assemble, troubleshoot and test their creations in a designated "game" that changes from year to year. This year, competitors must design and train their robots to play a sort of soccer-basketball hybrid with obstacles in between. Parts of the competition are automated with the robots performing pre-programmed directions while the rest is performed by competitors using modified video game controllers. Along with the head-to-head competition, one student is competing in a separate solo class training an automated arm to pick up, sort and pile colored disks. The Denmark teams take part in VEX Competitions that involve students from across Wisconsin with 50 countries taking part in other competitions across the world.

Gossens says the robotics competitions cover "a lot of different aspects" and teach a lot of important skills to students. Skills learned include programming, engineering, problem solving and proto-typing. There is also an inherent creative aspect due to the robots all being designed 100% from scratch. Gossens says he is very grateful for the opportunity to offer the program as a class and hopes to expand offerings and options in the years to come.