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Yelm Middle School students showcase robotics club after program cuts
Summary
Yelm Middle School students and their advisor demonstrated robotics projects and described how the club, rebuilt through grants, provides hands-on learning and social connections after the district reduced its former robotics class.
Yelm Middle School students demonstrated robots and described the club that meets weekly during the Yelm School Board meeting on Feb. 13, highlighting a small-program revival after prior curriculum reductions.
The robotics club now meets every Tuesday, is supported by grants and a mix of middle- and high-school volunteers, and drew about 30 middle-school students plus roughly 10 high-school mentors most weeks, advisor Bethany Winterstrom told the board. “I show up and I open the door, and I open the laptop so they can sign in and say, here's your goal for the day,” Winterstrom said.
The students explained the current challenge they were presenting: a timed course in which the robot must react to colored signals — red to stop, green to speed up, yellow to slow down. One student described two robot designs used in the task: “We currently have 2 examples of robots. 1 we used gears to speed it, make it faster, and 1 that we didn't use it for.” Another student said the club lets members “hang out with friends while doing it and having fun, building, coding, doing cool designs.”
Winterstrom and the board noted the club’s emphasis on hands-on learning and social development. Winterstrom said high-school students who previously took robotics regularly help the club, allowing younger students more individualized support during meetings. The club earned a local award this year and plans to rebuild teams to re-enter regional competitions in the coming months, Winterstrom said.
Board members and community speakers praised the students’ presentations and described the club as an example of students finding “a place to belong.” Several board members and commenters also connected the club to broader district budget pressures and the need to preserve extracurricular learning opportunities as staff continue strategic planning.
The board’s remarks and the students’ demonstration were part of a larger meeting that included other agenda items; the robotics segment was presented as a school spotlight rather than a policy decision.
