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Saratoga High robotics team details 'Smash' STEM event and community outreach
Summary
Members of the MSET Cuttlefish robotics team described 'Smash' (STEM madness), a community outreach event that drew 800+ attendees, hosted 50 STEM booths, processed about 130 pumpkins and diverted more than 1,000 pounds to composting through West Valley Recycles; students asked the board to endorse next year’s event.
Students from Saratoga High’s MSET Cuttlefish robotics team presented their community outreach event 'Smash' to the board, describing the team’s work, engineering of large pneumatic 'smashers,' volunteer staffing, partnerships and environmental outcomes.
Florence (student presenter) said the team participates in FIRST programs and emphasized outreach and skills developed through robotics. Renisha and Ben walked the board through the evolution of the 'pumpkin smasher' — hardware design (pneumatics), mentorship from alumni engineers, and iterative improvements to increase reliability. Maxwell reported event metrics: more than 800 attendees, roughly 130 pumpkins collected and over 1,000 pounds composted through a partnership with West Valley Recycles. The team also reported $1,160 in city grant funding that helped pay for supplies and described deploying 60 community volunteers plus 15 team members to run the event.
The students requested the district’s endorsement and support for future iterations. Board members and the superintendent praised the team’s outreach and educational aims and agreed to take a group photo with students and handlers who support the district’s wellness program.
Next steps: students will follow up with contact information provided to the district and requested future endorsement and support for the event.
