By Anne Ruisi
Her introduction to robotics in the third grade “opened up a world for me,” recalled Addison Hardee, a rising senior at Mountain Brook High School.
A decade later, Addison, 17, is sharing her love of robotics and computer technology via Robotics Summer Camp with youngsters at the YMCA Youth Center in downtown Birmingham.
“It’s really fun,” Alexander Hamilton, 8, a camper who will be in fourth grade at EPIC Elementary School in Birmingham, said as he worked on assembling a catapult for the robot he and his team were building. “I like working with robots, mostly coding. I like math.”
This is the second summer for the week-long Robotics Summer Camp, which began July 15. It’s a component of the after-school robotics program Addison organized last year at the youth center as part of the requirements to earn her Gold Award with the Girl Scouts, which is equivalent to an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts. She received official confirmation July 19 that she has earned the award.
Addison said she wanted to bring a robotics program to Birmingham City Schools partly because the field offers plentiful career opportunities and the program teaches STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – in a fun way. It’s also very hands-on and she noted that the children participating already are building and programming robots for tasks, such as completing an obstacle course.
She originally wanted to bring a robotics program to Birmingham City Schools, but there were so many hurdles involved to getting approval, she realized she could reach many of the same children by holding the program at the Y’s Downtown Youth Center. Getting approval at the center involved less red tape.
Addison recruited fellow students at Mountain Brook Junior High and High schools to volunteer with her after school on Mondays and Wednesdays to help the Birmingham students learn more about robotics and STEM.
The group uses VEX Robotics, a competitive robotics program that includes science and engineering principles that you normally think of with robotics but also encourages creativity, teamwork, leadership and problem solving, according to its website. VEX Robotics competitions are “collaborative,” with partners working in teams to score points.
Participants in the youth center’s after-school robotics program competed in three competitions in the past school year.
Since beginning robotics, Addison has been a part of teams that have qualified for the State Robotics Championship nearly every year and qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship three years in a row. Earlier this year she was named Volunteer of the Year at the Alabama VEX IQ Robotics Championship.
Officials at the Y’s downtown youth center were happy to welcome Addison and the program when she asked if they were interested in her proposal.
“You have children now who are interested in the sciences,” said Terri Harvill, executive director of the Y’s Youth Center and its chief social impact officer. “They were learning, not even knowing it.”
Addison begins her senior year Aug. 13 and will be leading the youth center’s after-school robotics program. She’ll also be applying to colleges, though she said she doesn’t have a preference right now. She does know she wants to go into computer science.
“I really like coding but I’m also very much a people person. So, I may do a minor in psychology and (study) human-computer interaction,” she said. “I may do cybersecurity but I’m keeping my options open.”
