Beryl prompts pair of Houston Catholic schools to connect
August 13, 2024
The two-day IWA Rookie Robotics Camp from July 12 to 13 was held at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School after Hurricane Beryl hit the Galveston-Houston area and damaged Incarnate Word Academy (IWA) in downtown. (Photo courtesy of Incarnate Word Academy)
HOUSTON — When Hurricane Beryl hit the Galveston-Houston area, not only were homes and businesses left with damage and a loss of electricity, but also Catholic schools in the Archdiocese.
Incarnate Word Academy (IWA) in downtown lost part of its gym's roof, causing water damage in the gym and in some classrooms. IWA was also without power, prompting engineering and robotics teacher Ann Marie Girardot to scramble to find another Catholic school that would host the two-day IWA Rookie Robotics Camp from July 12 to 13.
Girardot contacted a former student, Meris Bridger, who teaches theology at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School (SFDS). Bridger contacted her principal, Anne Marie Quatrini, who gave permission for the IWA Rookie Robotics Camp to be held the next day at SFDS.
Four college students from Girardot’s former robotics team, the Iron Eagles, from St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School in Austin, led the IWA Robotics Camp. All four of the mentors have experience in state and world-level robotics competitions. They led the eight rookie IWA robotics team members in sessions on brainstorming, building, CAD, and learning about FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) robotics. FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.”
By the end of the first day, the IWA rookie robotics students had built the chassis for a practice robot, and by Saturday, the IWA team had wired the robot, attached the control hub, expansion hub, a robotics arm, and three different types of claws, so they could drive and demonstrate their IWA practice robot for their parents at the closing of camp.
IWA’s new robotics team will be FTC Team 25955 and will begin their rookie year in 2024-2025.
“High school students participating in FIRST call it ‘the hardest fun you’ll ever have,’” Girardot said.
For FTC, a new challenge will be released in September for all teams all over the world. FTC teams then brainstorm and build a competitive robot under strict rules and with limited time and resources. Competitions begin in November, with top teams advancing through various contests from February through March, with the FIRST World Robotics Championship at the George R. Brown Convention Center in April 2025.
“Participating in FTC Robotics is as close to real-world engineering as a student can get,” said Girardot.
The IWA Robotics team will be an all-girls team comprised of students from IWA. The school has expanded to add Robotics to its STEM classes, which already include Forensic Science, Engineering Design and Problem Solving, and Engineering Applications of Computer Science. IWA students who participate in a dual enrollment engineering design class with The University of Texas at Austin receive a college engineering course credit applicable to any Texas state university or college.
Gilda Mendoza, a 1984 IWA alumna and mother of robotics participant Kaitlin Trostmann, said, “I am really excited that our little all-girls school is doing great things. This Robotics team is just another opportunity for our girls to be leaders in STEM.”
Girardot said that the IWA-SFDS connection will continue in the fall.
In return for SFDS’s generosity during Hurricane Beryl, the IWA Robotics team plans to return to the SFDS campus in the fall and host a STEM Day robotics workshop for middle-school students.