It may be a Friday night, but the robotics team is still at school, frantically preparing in the workshop hidden in the labyrinth that is Lindbergh High School.

It is the night of their Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and the students only have minutes before they head in front of an auditorium full of friends, parents, alumni, sponsors and community members. While many of the students rehearse their presentation in the workshop, the PR and media team are busy on stage, setting up their cameras and testing the microphone levels. As the students make their way from the workshop to the front stage, their eagerness and anxiousness is apparent.

The FIRST robotics team of Lindbergh High School, the Talon, is a force to reckon with. FIRST, which stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” is an organization created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Each year, the team competes in the First Robotics Competition (FRC), where they use their STEM skills to design and build a large-scale robot and compete in a challenge.

With the supervision of physics teacher Matthew Randall, the Talon was founded in 2008 and has been creating a legacy to which students inspire to be a part of.

But while Randall and the mentors teach specific skills and offer general guidance, they mostly sit back and watch the students figure out solutions to challenging problems. Students are responsible for developing their own strategies, designs, prototypes and robots.

Since the team is largely student-led, Randall uses his time to focus on leadership development.

“The kids who are in charge… know what they are doing,” says Randall. “They involve people. This year they are implementing something called the ‘buddy system’ where an upperclassman has a younger student who is their buddy.”

Randall says this system not only allows the younger members of the team to learn new skills and techniques, but also gives an opportunity for the older students to practice their leadership abilities.

For Junior Jamie Costales, a three-year member of the Talon, the leadership lessons she has learned have been valuable.

“Robotics really showed me that I can be a leader,” says Costales. “I can really lead people and I can help people. As a leader, I’ve realized that you shouldn’t take everything upon yourself. When you’re leading a team, you shouldn’t be telling them what to do. You should be like, ‘What do you think?’ and guiding them through that. It’s more of a guiding thing than a you-telling-them-what-to-do thing.”

To be part of the robotics team means learning the technical aspects – such as learning how to make a robot – but also soft skills – such as leadership, being a team player, time management and creative problem solving.

“If you tie robotics with school, it’s really nice because you learn so many life skills and school skills, like presenting!” claims Costales. “I can talk to a crowd of people now. I used to be super uptight about grades, but robotics showed me that if I need help I can ask for it.”

In the first semester of the school year, the students learn the basic skills such as fabrication, CAD (Computer Aided Design), electrical and programming. Currently, the team is in their build season, where upon learning about this year’s FRC rules and regulations, they strategize, design and build the robot in six weeks.

PDR is designed so the students can present their initial strategies, designs and prototypes to parents, community members and sponsors, then receive feedback. It is a night that the team takes very seriously.

During PDR, the team suits-up in their blue Talons T-shirt and begin the presentation with fervor. As the students take turns explaining the rules of the game, the strategies they are deliberating and then demonstrate their wooden prototypes, it is easy to tell that each member is thoroughly prepared. As audience members share feedback and constructive criticism, students accept it graciously and request for suggestions on bettering their game plan.

Randall notes that the team was encouraged by the feedback they received at PDR and immediately began to revise their strategies and prototypes.

Currently, the students are busy gearing up for the their Critical Design Review (CDR), a followup on the PDR where students will present a more detailed design, complete with the CAD versions of their robotics. Like PDR, the team will then receive feedback on their designs from the audience. After CDR, the team will then begin building their robots, transforming their wooden prototypes held together largely by duct tape into impressive machines.

The team is currently in their six-week build season, which will be followed by two district competitions at Central Washington Univeristy and Auburn High School. If the team qualifies, they will be on their way to the regional championships in Portland, Ore. and then the international championships in St. Louis.

For students such as Costales, being a member of the robotics team isn’t just another after-school activity or a resume-booster. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience where she can grow her technical ability and character. It is also an experience that has created lifetime bonds.

“I really like it,” says Costales. … the bond you build at robotics is great. I think we have a great time this year.”

After graduation Costales is contemplating studying biomedical engineering. But she isn’t in a rush to figure it all out right now. She has more important things to think about right now, such as building a robot.