Pivot Robotics coaches and students visited a Garden City town hall on Tuesday, Sept. 30, to describe the volunteer-run robotics program, how a recent APAC grant expanded team capacity, and where local residents can watch competitions.

The presentation matters because the program provides free robotics instruction to youth who lack access through their schools, and local grant funding has materially increased the number of teams and students served.

Shannon (head coach, Pivot Robotics) told the commission the program operates out of a community makerspace and is free to participating students. “The Federal Locks was one of the largest givers of the APAC grant this year,” Shannon said, describing a recent award that “really propelled us into what we've been doing.” She said the makerspace operates a membership model with tools such as woodworking equipment, 3-D printers and laser cutters and reported 65 current members and 102 classes or events in 2025.

Shannon said Pivot began in 2018 from a Women on Purpose grant as a girls-focused initiative called GEAR (Girls in Engineering and Robotics), expanded to include boys during COVID and later rebranded to Pivot. She said the program’s competitive teams grew from four teams before the APAC grant to seven teams after a small grant last year and to 12 competitive teams this year; across the program’s history she said there have been 34 total teams, 17 teams that qualified for state and four that qualified for world competitions.

Coaches and students described the program structure and competition format. Shelby (coach, Pivot Robotics) explained that younger students take part in VEX IQ and VEX GO events and that there are programs for kindergarten-age children to learn basic programming. Students demonstrated and described robot mechanisms and explained how competitions pair teams randomly and award points for autonomous programming, scored play and engineering notebooks. “The teamwork is really what brings it together,” said Lola (student, Pivot Robotics), the program’s student‑of‑the‑year, describing how matched teams combine points and strategy during a round.

Coaches listed other funding sources discussed during the presentation: Shannon named the APAC grant and also mentioned support from local businesses and foundations. She described workspace expansions made possible by grant money, noting the makerspace reconfigured a larger area to serve 12 teams in staggered sessions.

A commissioner asked whether there are public events where residents can watch; Shannon said Garden City will host events on the calendar, including a large high‑school tournament scheduled for Jan. 24 and a smaller event on Nov. 15. She said the program is also pursuing a “signature” event requiring a minimum number of teams.

The presentation included slides and photos from past state and world competitions and brief student remarks about technical work and teamwork. Students and coaches emphasized that competitions teach iteration, debugging and communication across teams and sometimes across language barriers.

The commission did not take formal action during the presentation; the item was a public comment/presentation to inform the commission and the public about the program’s activities and upcoming events.

Organizers invited residents to attend local competitions and to contact Pivot Robotics or the makerspace for volunteer and sponsorship opportunities.