North Ridge Robotics Coach Bridgett Turner said this year was tough because all of the competitions were virtual.

“This year because it was all virtual, there was a two step process,” Turner said. “One was the physical challenge match, and the other part of their scoring was a video submission.”

Turner said that the students also kept journals that helped them with debugging along the way. She said that this year because of the two step process, students learned more about working together.

“The students were able to shoot their own videos, script them, and edit them,” Turner said. “Two of our four teams did the video portion of the competition and they did very well.”

Turner said she thinks that Robotics helps students with all STEAM processes: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math.

“Students are able to possess another set of skills that others won’t have because they were able to work through different processes with Robotics,” Turner said. “They have thought through the physical aspects of things and the technical aspects of things to make it all come together.”

Turner said that they also walk away with more than an enhanced level of education.

“They take away the ability to work as a team,” Turner said. “We had a mixture of third, fourth and fifth graders, so they had to learn to work with different ages, different personalities, and really had to understand what team work is all about.”

Turner said that many students are learning about technology from cell phones and as consumers, but Robotics teaches students to shift their thinking.

“It makes them think ‘I am the producer of something, not just the consumer,’” Turner said. “We are all consuming technology 24/7, we are rarely producing anything. When it comes to producing something, it triggers a whole different part of our brain. Robotics really forces these students to think through all the little bitty steps of something, and really helps them in their lives. They find their strengths and it helps them figure out what their style is when it comes to working with a team.”