Students, adult leaders and alumni of PiBotics FRC 3814, a robotics competition team that operates out of Ignite Institute, packed the Boone County Schools Board of Education meeting on Thursday to advocate for continued facility use in the face of a program reevaluation from the Boone County School District, something many members of the team feared could spell doom for the program.
“We take charge of everything: designing, building and managing ourselves, which teaches us leadership, teamwork and problem solving,” said team member and Ignite Institute junior Emma Wilson. “We learn to handle real-world engineering challenges, manage our time, and communicate effectively. This hands-on experience gives us competence and prepares us for future careers and, more importantly, it instills a passion for innovation and collaboration.”
Wilson was one of numerous people associated with the team who pleaded their case before the school board.
The team is a branch of the First Robotics Competition, a program founded in 1989 to encourage youth education in science and engineering. The program now has participants all over the world, who come together in competitions to design, build and program robots that then compete in field challenges. The program is self-funded, and it’s open to both students at the Ignite Institute and the county school district.
Ignite Institute is governed by policies from the Boone County School Board–the institute was founded in partnership with Boone County Schools and Kenton County Schools after Toyota donated the building where the institute now operates. Even though the team is independent, it relies upon access to Ignite to store and use the equipment necessary to perform the team’s builds.
Two adults associated with the program, Stephanie Wilson and Kathy Allen, told LINK nky that the issue arose at the end of June when the team’s coach, Elizabeth Koch, announced her retirement. According to them, following Koch’s announcement, the team received an email from Boone County Schools Deputy Superintendent James Detwiler stating that the district was reconsidering the program due to financial and safety concerns.
Detwiler did not confirm the details of the email when asked, saying instead the district was simply reevaluating the program. Team members shared the email with LINK nky after the meeting, and in it Detwiler states the district was considering three things: if there were similar programs that might fill the same niche as PiBotics, if the program was the most optimal use of resources and if there were any safety risks that needed mitigating.
Comments from speakers at the meeting focused heavily on the team’s commitment to safety, pointing out there were whole sub-teams dedicated to ensuring safety around the builds. The team had actually won an award for their safety protocols earlier in the year.
Speakers also addressed the way the team cultivated students’ skills not only in engineering and science but also critical thinking, teamwork and communication. Additionally, students described an environment where they made friends easily and found a sense of belonging.
“Being surrounded by peers who share values and interests has given me a new sense of belonging, a feeling of acceptance and sanctuary I haven’t had in a while,” one student said.
The board members and district staff, including Detwiler, were complimentary of the team’s advocacy.
New superintendent Jeff Hauswald, who was just hired on in May and who was sitting in his first meeting as superintendent, addressed the speakers after their comments concluded. He was actually familiar with the program, having encountered other branches of it earlier in his career. He said he recognized its value.
“It’s not just engineering,” Hauswald said, “the safety coordinators, the marketing, the business, and when you attend the open houses and the competitions you realize all the skill sets that are developed.”
He also complimented the team for coming to advocate for themselves, saying the district was listening throughout.
“I know they were taking notes, and I know they heard every single word you said,” Hauswald told the speakers.
When asked when the district would make its decision, Detwiler responded, “Very soon.”