Charles Hyman, graphics arts teacher and mentor for the Harper Woods robotics program, introduced a presentation at the Harper Woods City Council meeting highlighting growth and community connections in the district’s robotics offerings. "We are in our fourth industrial resolution ... technology, AI, and robotics," Hyman said, describing the program’s focus on computational and critical-thinking skills.

The presentation, held at the council meeting, emphasized hands-on instruction housed at the College and Career Institute (CCI) building. Jordan Rogers, liaison of logistics for the Harper Woods robotics team, said the programs have shown measurable competitive improvement: "For our FLL program, FIRST LEGO League, we had grown by 66.7% from last year placing at the very last place and then to this year being fifth out of 15 other teams." Rogers told the council the district runs FLL (elementary), FTC (middle school) and FRC (high school) tracks.

Student leads gave technical detail. Dominic Gaines, lead of controls, described his responsibilities: "I'm responsible for the electrical work behind the robots as well as program them to make them actually move." He and Terrence Wilson, the lead of mechanical, demonstrated a middle-school FTC robot that picks up and deposits scoring pieces on a competition field. Students also showed a high-school swerve-drive chassis used in FRC competitions and noted they program in Java, Python and C++.

Superintendent (unnamed) and other council members praised the program’s outcomes. The superintendent said moving robotics into the CCI Center gave the teams room and resources to expand. Council members asked about team size and mentorship; Rogers said the overall program involves about 42 students with 22 consistent members and listed several current mentors including Hyman and Lamar Copeland. He said volunteers and outside mentors are welcome.

The presentation concluded with a demonstration, pictures for the city newsletter and council praise for students’ communication and technical skills. Council members suggested continued outreach to businesses for mentors and recognized robotics as part of the district’s career-education offerings.

The robotics segment was informational; no formal council action was taken.